


Two Lost Brothers

by Woolywitch



Series: Two Lost Brothers [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Underfell, Broken Bones, Failed gaster blaster au, Gen, Strong Language, Underfell Papyrus, Underfell Sans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-28 08:08:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 29
Words: 42,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6321685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woolywitch/pseuds/Woolywitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sans has a lot of secrets. From his movie nights with a former coworker to literally everything he ever did working under the former royal scientist . When, through a series of events, his secretes come to light. Sans May have to get off his butt and do something he hoped he'd never have to do again, Actual work.</p><p>[Hey guys New summary! This fic has evolved a lot since I started it. I feel a new summary is in order to better represent what this fic is about.]</p><p>GRAMMAR AND SPELLING WARNING . Although I have improved since I started this. The first few chapters are a mess that I have no infection of fixing. I am doing this fic to help both improve my writing and to keep a log of my progress. .</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The letter

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my first fan fiction so feedback would be greatly appreciated! I am planning for this little tale to have a happy ending but not without some struggle. @u~ Anyways let me know what you think and here. we. go....

 "SANS, WAKE THE FUCK UP!" The door swung open violently as Papyrus kicked it in. This was not the first time this had happened, it wasn't even the hundredth time. Sans lock had long since been broken and the wall was full of cracks from the shear force and repetition of this almost daily action. Now this rude awaking should have been more than enough to get Sans out of bed and alert. However a long night at Grillby's had given the small monster one hell of a hangover. So instead of getting out of bed like he was suppose to Sans just rolled over in his messy sheets and tried to go back to sleep.  
  
Suddenly, without warning he was torn from his pile of messy sheets and thrown to the floor. A shiny black boot collided with the his face, instantly pain bloomed in his head. One eye socket closed in pain Sans looked up just in time to see Papyrus's rage filled red eyes and his heavy boot coming straight at him. The next blow caught him in his ribs and there was a sickening _CRACK._ If skeletons had lungs the wind would have been knocked out of his, as it stood Sans lay on the floor clutching at his chest silent tears streaming down his face as he gasped in pain.  
  
Sans lay there for what seamed like ages before he was rudely lifted by the front of his shirt and brought to eye level with his younger brother. Papyrus's eyes were filled with a cold fire and when he spoke it came out in a raspy whisper "when i tell you to do something i expect you to do it." Shaking like a leaf while trying to avoid eye contact with his enraged brother Sans manged out a chocked "Y-yes boss, s-s-sorry boss won't happen again". Papyrus seemingly sissified with his brothers fear laden apology gave an annoyed huff and let sans fall to the floor. There was a pain filled yelp from Sans as he hit the floor. hand flying to his ribs instinctively.  
  
"AND CLEAN YOURSELF UP YOU SMELL LIKE A BAR." with one final slam of the door Papyrus was gone. Pulling himself up to a sitting position while also lifting up his shirt to inspect the damage Sans said to himself "ya god morning to you too asshole" Luckily it was just a hairline fracture on his bottom left rib. Sighing and picking himself up off his messy floor he started the task of getting himself ready for the day ahead, clearly it was going to be a long one. Something must have set Papyrus off. He was usually quite mean to Sans but acts of violence to this degree only happened when he messed up and did something that Papyrus deemed "bad" . Nine times out of ten it had something to do with his self image. Laughing softly to himself ruefully he knew that not wanting to get out of bed was not the root cause of this outburst.  
  
Somehow through the pain in his head and chest he managed to get himself out of last nights dirty clothes and into something a little cleaner. His jacket would need to be washed soon but it could probably wait until later. Once presentable he want downstairs to grab himself some breakfast.  
  
Upon walking down the stairs and into their living room an unusual sight greeted him. Sitting stiffly on the old lumpy couch was his brother. Confused and somewhat concerned Sans asked "hey boss 'sup aren't you suppose to be patrolling right now?" Papyrus's head shot up giving sans a warning glare. "n-not that you have too! I just mean that y-you're not the type to miss work." Standing up Papyrus looked down at his smaller older brother with a distasteful frown.  
  
"SOMETHING HAS COME UP, I WILL BE MEETING WITH UNDYNE TO DISCUSS THE MATTER." Papyrus paused "I WILL HAVE ONE OF THE _DOGS_ COVER MY PATROL AND YOUR SENTRY DUTY TODAY."  
  
"m-my wha-"  
  
"THIS IS A VERY URGENT MATTER I HAVE TO ATTEND TOO! I WILL MOST LIKELY BE GONE ALL DAY. YOUR GREAT PROTECTOR WILL NOT BE HERE TO MAKE SURE YOU STAY OUT OF TROUBLE AND DON'T EMBARRASS ME.,"  
  
Sans wanted to laugh _great protector_ is that how he saw himself? Somehow sans doubted it.  
  
"IF I FIND OUT THAT YOU HAVE LEFT OUR HOUSE TO GO TO GRILLBY'S... LETS JUST SAY IT WOULDN'T END WELL FOR YOU."  
  
Walking to the front door he turned around to add one final statement.  
  
"I SUGGEST YOU USE THIS TIME WISELY AND CLEAN THE DAM HOUSE WHILE I AM GONE." With that final statement the front door slammed shut.  
  
  _wow, something is most defiantly up._ his permanent smile tilted up at the edges a bit. _but that is not my friken problem._  
  
It was hard to be worried about your brothers problems when he just basically gave you an excuse do just lay around the house and do nothing all day. If Papyrus actually thought his lazy brother was going to do anything other then sleep he had another thing coming. Sans was going to need the sleep anyways to repair the damage done this morning. However now he got to sleep on their comfy living room couch instead of the hateful wooden stool that passed for seating at his sentry station.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The steady thump of footfalls was the only sound to be heard in the shadowy waterfall caverns. The tall vice captain of the royal guards was the one responsible for the sound. Soon the cavern would turn into a wet marsh that was difficult to traverse and he would have to resort to the ferry to make his trip to Hotland a little more bearable. For the moment though the stone was firm beneath his feet and he need to walk. Papyrus was mad and he needed to think.  
  
 Papyrus would never trust his brother with anything. As far as he was concerned his older brother was a week sniveling lazy idiot How could a monster with a measly 1 HP ever hope to be anything other than a burden? Sighing inwardly as he reached in the pocket of his black pants and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. It had been folded and unfolded then refolded so many times the paper was covered in creases the black lettering was still very much intact. He read the contents one more time.  
  
_Traitor,_  
  
I request your presence at the complex. Failure to comply with my demands will result in our original agreement becoming void. Return what you have stolen and our agreement will hold true.  
  
He folded it up and put in back in his pocket. Papyrus had found the letter when going through Sans mail. (If he didn't keep on top of it no one would) If this wasn't such a blatant attempt to lure his brother out and kidnap him for ransom or to out right kill him Papyrus might have been impressed. There was no way this letter refereed to anything cool his brother did. It was most likely referencing some dumb dispute over a bet or something.  
  
 Sans was so week willed and stupid he would probably just go to this place with no regard what it would do to his younger brothers reputation. If Sans was captured or killed, and he would be killed there was no doubt about that, it would put his position in danger.  
  
The content of the letter had him intrigued as well. It was like a puzzle that need to be solved. Not a particularly hard one but it would still be fun to figure out. He smiled wickedly to himself. Clearly "the complex" could refer to one of two places the Lab complex or the Core complex. He could check both of them but that would take time. The only person who lived in the Lab was alphys. She was the current royal scientist and although he respected her intellect there was no way she sent this letter. That little coward barely even left her stupid lab and he didn't even think she knew Sans.  
  
That left the core. Approaching the waterfall ferry doc Papyrus saw the ferry-person approaching. It would be easy to figure out who the scum was. It was Saturday morning and everyone was home for the weekend. He would just have to go and find the person lurking around the core and confront them. He would make them regret ever messing with grand master Papyrus. As the boat arrived he boarded and said one single word "HOTLAND".


	2. Lizard talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something happening at the core and sans has a talk with a lizard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys next chapter is ready! The updates will probably slow down now but I want to get at least two chapters out a week from now on. Sorry about the slow build but you know how these things go. \\(@~@)/ Anyways hope you enjoy!

  
The Core was the single greatest achievements of monsterkind. The whole civilization that was known for its inability to cooperate as well as its violent tendencies managed to bad together for the time it took to get the core up and running. It was not an easy task and in the beginning there had been quiet a few monsters dusted in a short amount of time. The majority of those incidents hadn't been antecedents. So the king had to make a decree that the Core was a safe zone. One of only three that existed in the underground.   
  
The Unknown monster chucked to themself as they wandered the catwalks and steam filled chambers. It had been what felt like an eternity since they had been here. Nothing had changed in that time and yet everything had changed in that time. Not for long however, their plan would ensure everything went back to the way it was suppose too be.  
  
  _I wonder how long that fool is going to keep me waiting._ they had not set a location. Knowing that was foolish, they wanted the upper hand. Even if this was a "safe zone" the safety of any monster was not a sure thing. Anyways if the traitor found his way into the core the Unknown monster would sense the interloper especially if he still had the stolen goods on him.   
  
Another soft chuckle floated down the empty passages. The Unknown monster stayed close to the entrance but if they had the wherewithal to wander deeper into the facially they would have noticed something off, or maybe not. Deep in the building behind layers of Metal and blast proof glass the core shone brightly. Not as brightly as it should have though. Its normally bright white light was streaked with black. If a core employee had been watching they would have immediately started the procedure for stabilizing the core. As it stood though the core had been stable for hundreds of years the manual that would have served this mythical core employee sat in a desk covered in dust. No one was here to start the process and no one would be for another 37 hours.   
  
* * * * * *   
  
Sans startled out of his sleep when the phone is his jacket pocket started to buzz. The text alert managed to scare the small skeleton enough to rouse him from his light sleep and land him a one way ticket to floortown. A pain shot trough his rib but it was nowhere near as bad as it had been earlier. Looking at the phone that had caused this trouble in the first place he noticed the glowing white numbers that told him it was only 11:30 and he had only been asleep about five hours. As he held it in his palm another buzz and vibration came from the device.   
  
Thinking it was his brother he flipped the phone to check what that asshole had to say. To his surprise he had four missed messages from a completely different asshole entirely.  
  
 **Hey I found a new movie at the dump today! >:D look like this ones goona be a good one.  
  
Are you sleeping?!? You take the day off of work and you spend your day asleep?  
  
GET UP AND TALK TO ME ABOUT MOVIES!   
  
GGGGGEEEEETTTTT UUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11  
  
**Dam alphys must be really worked up about this new movie. The worst part was he couldn't even pretend to be working and ignore her because of her stupid camera system.  
  
 *** congrats motherfucker i am awake** Sans managed to type out before he hauled himself on the couch.   
  
**Thats Dr. Motherfucker to you ingrate.  
  
* i didn't know there was a motherfucking university in the underground i bet you had a great time in motherfucking school  
  
Dammit sans. >:S  
  
* wait i got a good one   
  
* how is the motherfucking campus   
  
*oh god this is comedy gold  
  
So this is how you spend you time off? Hassling poor little monsters?   
  
* ok first off you are not a "poor little monster" and second you contacted me  
  
That's right! God I almost forgot! Come over and watch this movie with me!  
  
* i don't know al good old king of the castle said i wasn't allowed to leave the house today  
  
**In truth Sans could really go for a movie with Al today. If she was this excited it was ether a sci fi flick or a horror movie. Ether way it was good to see something new that didn't have mettaton as the main character. But he wasn't just going to give in that easily.   
  
*** i don't know al i got a lot of important lying around to do today i will have to see if i can pencil you in  
  
** Then sans put his phone down and waited. After about three minuets of waiting and a bunch of unanswered buzzing later Sans once again looked at his phone.  
  
 **Sans that was not a question.  
  
Seriously, Undyne is busy today. I am not watching this movie alone and I am not waiting around all day for her to get off work.  
  
SANS GET OF YOUR BONEY ASS AND COME OVER!  
  
Don't make me send someone to kidnap you again.  
  
IF YOU DON'T PICK UP YOUR PHONE . SO. HELP. ME.  
  
Ok I am counting to 10 and if you are not at my lab house by then I am disowning you.  
  
10  
  
9  
  
8  
  
7  
  
6  
  
**Sans laughed aloud **.  
  
* oh my god are you seriously counting down in the phone   
  
**The phone b buzzed   
  
**5  
  
** He really loved making her angry but the promise of a new movie was to much to resist. Luckily he was already dressed because of his rude awakening this morning all he needed to do was put his phone in his pocket and-  
  
\- knock on the hot metal of her security door.   
  
It only took a few seconds before there was a loud beep and the door slid open. In the doorway was a small yellow lizard monster with a mischievous grin on her face. "Took you long enough I was about to send mettaton to go pick you up." Sans annoyance with this propitiation must have shown on his face because alphys started to cackle manically and walk back into the dark recesses of her lab. Sans followed closely behind not wanting to get locked out.  
  
Sans closed one eye and put on his biggest shit eating grin raising his hands in a dismissive gesture. "Come on Al I got here as soon as I could." "Bullshit you can teleport anywhere you want instantly." alphys turned around " I know your a lazy piece of shit though so I guess I can let it slide this once." Sans wanted to laugh. Him and alphys may not be friends but they were the closest thing anyone could have to friends in the underground. They were former colleges who stood on equal intellectual footing. They were also week monsters with low levels. It was not uncommon for such alliances to form. Among the "week" needless to say they both tried to keep there alliance on the down low.  
  
Sans was glad to be on good terms with her. Most monsters that went to her labs were never seen again. Sans was sure he would never end up on her operation table though. If she killed him or scared him away she would lose a large source of information. Sans may not be good at the technical aspect of what she did but he was a kick ass mathematician and thrived on the theoretical. Also who else would fill in for her girlfriend on days like these and who would fill in for his brother?   
  
As they came to the movie area Sans kicked a cube with practiced ease and the cube unfolded into a somewhat square couch. Most of alphys furniture did this Sans never asked why. "Bad morning?" she asked as she walked past him eyeing the scuff on his skull. Sans reached up to rub at it subconsciously eyes dark. "Ya you know how riled up he gets sometimes." Preparing for the movie she continued on conversationally with no concern in her voice. "Why do you let him hit you like that? You could dust him easily."   
Sans thought about how to explain something so complicated.   
  
"well..." He finally started after some thought. "What if Undyne came over one day and smacked you." alphys turned around sharply "Undynes never hit me before." Sans raised his hands up in surrender grin never faltering "Yes but say she had a bad day at work and she come home angry and you set her off and she smacked ya across the face. Would you dust her?" "there no way I could I'm too week." She said sitting down next to the skeleton with some snacks in hand. Sans looked at her raising the bone that should have been an eyebrow at her. "Lets say for the sake of argument that you could. You could dust her in one hit." He looked her in the eye" Would you?"  
  
alphys looked thoughtful for a moment Before giving the skeleton sitting next to her a playful hit on the shoulder that was a bit to forceful. "I see what your saying loser. Lets just relax though. We both have the day off lets just watch this gorefest and relax." Putting his feet up on the footrest and grabbing a spider doughnut from the pile of snacks that had been provided sans sighed "Ya, Your right. I bet Papyrus and Undyne are having _loads_ of fun together." It was no secret that the two were constantly yelling at each other and butting heads.  
  
"What are you talking about Undynes in the capitol with the king today. She's not hanging out with Papyrus."  
  
The white dots in sans eye shrunk a bit. "Whadya mean? Where did Papyrus go?"  
  
alphys seared "what did he not tell you?"  
  
Sans shook his head.  
  
"He went to the core facility. I have no idea why though." 


	3. Papyrus in a bind.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened to Papyrus?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Easter everyone! ^u^

  
  
Papyrus faded in and out of consciousness. It felt like he had been like this for years. Images faded in and out. Words, sentences, conversations, all meaningless noises that washed right over him. Sometimes he had a vague impression that he himself had spoken but all that was vague and fuzzy like the memory of a dream. For some reason the darkness was so tempting. The lure of blissful nonexistence floated in his mind like a fog. It would feel so good to just let go, to forget everything and let the world just pass him by.  
  
However he could not let this continue. The determined skeleton wanted to wake up, no _needed_ to wake up!  
  
Slowly and with a great amount of struggle he managed to rouse himself. One of the first coherent thoughts that crossed his mind was that this was an altogether unpleasant sensation. The usually active and energetic skeleton was unused to feeling tired. In fact being constantly alert and a light sleeper were a couple of the traits he was most proud of. His dazed mind and the accompanying heavy feeling in his bones were new sensations. As his mind cleared the usually alert guardsman finally noticed something was not right. He couldn't remember how he ended up here.  
  
A feeling of dread coiled through him, it was something he hadn't felt in years, and instead of making him scared all it did was fuel his anger. Dazed confused and angry the tall skeleton tried to move into a sitting possession only to realize he couldn't move. He tried to yell only to realize he couldn't speak. Only his eyes seemed to be under his control and he slowly opened his eye sockets hesitantly.   
  
A white paneled ceiling greeted him. There were florescent lights to his left but luckily they were off. His limited movement meant that this was about all he could see at the moment. However the room was illuminated by a soft blue light. From the shadows he could tell it was on the floor somewhere to his right. His calculating mind was taking in all this information. He would need to observe everything if he was going to figure this shit out.   
  
As the time ticked pass he noticed feeling returning to his body slowly. Trying to move his fingers for the seventh time he noticed a slight twitch. Progress, that was good. He hated being venerable. Creating a plan as he slowly worked his fingers gaining more and more movement he finally settled and a simple but effective two step plan. Step one was to get mobility back step two was finding the asshole who did this to him and dusting the bastard slowly painfully and with extreme malice. Simple but elegant.   
  
Imagining all the slow painful ways he could inflict pain his abductor keep his mind entertained as his slowly started working his neck and shoulders. The sound of the turning doorknob almost went unnoticed because of how caught up in his thoughts he was. _Almost,_ as the door slowly swung open Papyrus immediately went limp and closed his eyes in an attempt to look like he was still asleep.   
  
Silence followed, there were no foot steps, or sound of breathing nothing to hint that another living soul was in this room. Of course Papyrus stayed completely still knowing that not all monsters were corporeal. Waiting for something to tell him if he was alone or not. He was eventually rewarded by a soft wispy voice.  
  
" _I know you are awake, there is no need to pretend. "  
  
_ Papyrus immediately tensed up again. After some thought he also opened his eyes turning his head toward the sound of the voice. As he did he saw a dark nondescript figure that seamed to be wearing a white mask. The figure saw Papyrus looking at him and the cracked masks smile seamed to grow before a piece of the shadowy figure attached to another white blob near the light switch flicked upwards filling the room with bright white florescent light causing Papyrus to flinch and close his eyes again in discomfort.  
  
" _The sedative I administered was very old"_ He heard the figure say _. "However its potency still should have been enough to keep you under for at least another hour."_  
  
Papyrus opened his eyes once again only to find the mask unsettlingly close to his face.   
  
" _I'm impressed."  
  
_ The unwilling captive managed an evil looking smirk. "WELL YOU SHOULD BE I AM RATHER IMPRESSIVE."   
  
With that said the skeleton reared back and tried to headbutt the monster hovering over him. It would have gone much better if he had full control of his limbs. Also if he had realized he was actually restrained to the table. Unfortunately the leather straps did there job admirably stopping the attack a mere inches away from his would be victim. With the drug and straps both working against him he slammed back into the table with a loud clank.   
  
Looking down at their hostage with a gleam in there eye the monster laughed loudly. It was not a pleasant sound if anyone would have cared to describe it they might have used words like TV static, radio interference, maybe even breaking glass. The sound was soon halted as the monster quickly retreaded to another part of the room. The sound of metal objects clinking together soon filled the small space.  
  
"SO WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Papyrus asked after a few seconds.   
  
It was not like he was going to give into the demands of this lunatic but he need a place to start. Getting out of this jam was going to be very interesting but he had no doubts in his skills. This hadn't been the first time he had woken up strapped to a table or chair. Admittedly the drugs were a first but those were surprisingly hard to come by in the underground and being a skeleton it was surprisingly hard to administer them. He was clever, he was strong and he had money there was no situation in witch at least one of those things could get him out of his bind. The question was what was it going to bee with this monster.  
  
" _well."_ the monster said from Papyrus's left " _There are many things I want. The question is what can you give me?"_ The rustling stopped. " _I asked, quite nicely in fact, for your ungrateful rat of a brother to come meet me here. I see he has declined, instead he sends you."_ The monster came back into Papyrus's peripheral vision holding something that looked like a white square box with a screen on it. _"now I am a reasonable monster. However when I see an agreement fall to pieces I cannot help but feel a bit irritated. Your brother has broken our gentleman agreement. There is not fixing it at this point."_ Holding the screen above Papyrus chest he seamed to fiddle with a couple of the settings. " _All I want now, as childish as it may seam, is to make you suffer. I want you to scream and cry knowing the only release you can hope for is death."_ During this whole peach there voice had not risen above a whisper.   
  
Papyrus was almost impressed, _almost_. This was classic intimidation he had heard speeches similar to this before. Even worse he had heard better speeches before. He had no idea what Sans had done to piss this person off but man was he going to get a beating when Papyrus got home. If only for making him sit through this guys boring ass monologue.   
  
_"You don't look to impressed."_ They said as they finished fiddling with the machine. Papyrus just shrugged not even trying to hide his boredom. " _Do not fear this next part will be very interesting."_ They flipped a switch on the box and it started to hum. " _Don't you want to know how I got that drug into your system?"  
  
_ Papyrus started to feel a strange unpleasant tightness in his chest.   
  
_"Skeletons have a very interesting anatomy that I have done much research on. Although you have a body you have much more in common with the ghost like monsters then say a fish monster."  
  
_ The tightness grew into an almost unbreakable pressure. Like there were twenty boulders balanced on his ribs. He started to squirm in spite of himself.  
  
" _There is no circulatory system, no blood or fluid to interact with. This leads to a very interesting problem when trying to administer drugs."  
  
_ Papyrus could barely hear the whisper over his now rattling bones. The pressure was to much everything was too much. He had no control over his body. Then it stopped and he felt... empty? Not emotionally but physically. He looked up to see the monster holding the white box. Displayed on screen was an inverted white heart.   
  
" _you have to inject any substance directly into the soul or it will have no effect."  
  
_ Baffled he looked on as his soul was removed from the box. It was very unpleasant to have his soul grabbed. He saw the monster pull a syringe filled with a clear liquid out of nowhere apparently and put the tip against his soul.   
__  
"I am not going to lie, this will hurt. A lot."  
  
Bracing himself for the worst there was no way to prepare for what came next. Papyrus had felt pain. In the underground pain was a given. Training for the royal guard had shown him how to handle grate amounts of physical damage.   
  
This was not psychical.  
  
As the syringe slid into his core he could do nothing to stop his screaming. His mind went blank as he very being was punctured. He felt with painful clarity as the depressor was pushed down depositing a foreign substance somewhere it had right to be. He could feel the burning radiate out from his ribs and filling all his bones with lead. He hadn't even realized he was struggling until his movements started to slow.   
  
"YOU SON OF A BITCH I AM GOING TO KILL YOU FOR THAT." He slurred out in a voice raspy from yelling.  
  
As darkness finally took him he might have heard the doctor say something about his brother but it was too late and the tall skeleton as he finally slumped against his restraints.


	4. The Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [ edit: Sorry i just posted a bad copy of this chapter here is the fixed ver.]

There movie night had gone well. The movie they had watched was a magnificent slasher and they both had been pleasantly surprised. Keeping an eye on the Snowdin camera just in case his brother came home early, so Sans could jump back and pretend he had been home all day.

********  
  


The movie finished and no sign of Papyrus or Undyne they had decided to put on another movie, then another, and before they knew it they had a regular movie marathon on there hands. Halfway through Undyne had called and told Alphys she would be staying in the capitol that night because of some kind of security issue. So they continued on with their impromptu hangout session.

********  
  


Halfway through a particularly bad sci-fi horror flick Sans even managed to doze off. Only to be roused awake after what he thought had only been a few moments later. The movie was over and Alphys was shaking him.

****

" 'sup?" Sans managed to slur.

****

"You can spend the night here if you want but it will be a cold day in hell I let you drool all over my goddamn couch."

****

Sans immediately sat up, eye sockets still closed, and wiped at his face. " Sorry, what time is it?"

****

"eleven"

****

Sans eye sockets opened slowly, his pupils were absent. "fuuuuuUUUUUUUUuuuuuuck." he groaned.

****

Pulling out his cellphone he was surprised to see no new messages. Papyrus would have normally texted him at least three or four times with little reminders on what he was expected to do.

****

He dialed his brother's number and held the receiver up to the side of his head. It didn't even ring all he was greeted with was a hissing static.

****

He looked down at his phone sleep still evident in his face. "What the fuck?"

****

Alphys shifted so she could kick the skeletons from across the couch. "Something wrong?"

****

Sans nodded "My phones not working can I borrow yours?"

****

The small lizard scientist looked annoyed but she dug around in her lab coat and pulled out a much nicer version of Sans phone and tossed it to him half haphazardly. Sans tried his brothers number again but the results were the same.

****

"huh yours is too."

****

A foot collided with his side. Hard. "Did you break my phone."

****

" Ow! No, all I'm getting is static." Sans said throwing the phone back to its owner. She picked up her phone and quickly dialed a number. Sans phone buzzed to life and he quickly picked up.

****

"Is this one of your dumb jokes?" Alphys voice asked from next to him and through the receiver only a millisecond apart.

****

"Try calling my bro."

****

She found the number Sans had typed into her phone and pressed the call button. From the look on her face Sans could tell something was up.

****

"See" he said hitting her feet playfully but when he saw the look on her face he knew something was up. All drowsiness left him as Alphys darted up from her seat and went for her computer desk. He could hear the clicking of her claws against the keyboard furiously then a burst of static from her computer speakers.

****

Not a moment later the skeleton was looking over her shoulders at the snowy image on screen. "Sound familiar?" she asked.

****

"Yea that sounds just like when i tried to call paps." he paused squinting "What the fuck am I looking at?"

****

"This is camera CF-2a Located on the first floor of the core." She pushed another button the screen went black before it came back with what appeared to be the same image as before. "This is camra CF-18b" another black screen another hiss of static "This is camra JH-4 in Asgore's castle. It seems like since 2am today all the cameras in The Core, MTT Resort, The Capital, and parts of Hotland are all down."

****

She slumped her shoulder as she attempted to clean her glasses. "Communication has been intact though and it being the weekend Asgore didn't want any trouble with the workers and overtime or whatever. He asked if I could go look things over tomorrow and make sure everything is stable."

****

"You said you saw Paps go into the core?"

****

"Yes, the I have cameras running off three separate networks. Network one is all the areas I have mentioned before, currently offline. Network two is basically everywhere else Snowdin, Waterfall, so on and so forth. Network three is running on a generator separate from the Core just in case a catastrophic core failure. Network three is made up of 10 cameras set up in key locations."

****

Sans had listened to all of this in complete silence. Alphys pulled up another feed and what appeared was an image of the entrance of the core complex. "This is how I saw Papyrus. He might have taken the long way to get to the castle but I know for a fact Undyne said she was going to have to show him her new move when she got back but why would she need to wait if he was going with her?"

****

"Why are you waiting until tomorrow to check things out?" Sans asked.

****

"Well you know how bureaucratic everything is I have to get special clearance to get into the inner workings of the core." She huffed annoyed "It is seriously a pain in the ass."

****

Sans was staring at the core feed that was still pulled up on the computer. He suddenly noticed a black shadow moving on the right side of the screen. It was nothing more than a blob but the sight of it brought a chill down his spine.  _ It couldn't be.  _ Sans pointed a shaking digit at the shadow. "Al what the fuck is that?"

****

Alphys looked to where he was pointing The black blob was moving closer to the entrance and when it reached the doorway its figure was illuminated by the bright steel. There was no mistaking who it was for either one of the scientists.

****

"Shit." Alphys breathed out "I thought you killed him."

****

Sweat beaded on Sans forehead and his smile was strained "I thought I did too."

****

* * * * * *

****

A frenzy of activity had followed the two's discovery. Sans had been put in charge of looking through the footage for an image of his face to confirm their fears. While Alphys made a bunch of calls, which confirmed only Paps phone wasn't working. Sans found what he was looking for about thirty minutes into his search and he put his face in his hands. There was no denying it now somehow Gaster was back and Sans knew he was fucked.

****

Sans isolated the footage and printed it out. He then added it to the growing pile of paperwork balanced on Alphys computer tower.

****

"YES! I know!" he heard Alphys yell into her cell "What do you think I can do about that?!"

****

Sans looked down at his hands folded in his lap. He was worried about Papyrus but he knew his brother was one tough son of a bitch. Tougher than almost every other monster in the Underground. I mean you don't get to be second in command of the whole royal guard for nothing. Papyrus could even give Undyne a run for her money when sparring. Gaster was on evil clever bastard though. He made Alphys kidnapping and DT experiments look almost kind in comparison. At least she put her failed experiments out of there misery.

****

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Alphys yelled into her phone "FINE! Give me FIVE minutes!"

****

Stomping over to Sans she grabbed the stack of papers he had made and huffed "I  _ guess _ this will have to do." She walked over to Sans and put a hand on his shoulder spinning the computer chair around. She looked him dead in the eye and said. "Asgore wants to talk to you about what really happened to Gaster."

****

"Fuck" sans groaned

****  
"Double fuck." Alphys supplied before they were both grabbing there shit and running out the lab doors.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for hanging in there guys! I know its been kind of a slow build but things should pick up next chapter. ;)
> 
> Also if you want to contact me I am woolywitch on Tumblr http://woolywitch.tumblr.com/


	5. Sans and Agsgore have a chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans has some explaining to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo~ This chapter is a bit longer then what I usually write. I hope you guys enjoy!

Asgore was one of the most intimidating monsters you could come across. He had to be to keep his power in a hell hole like the underground. After using a shortcut to get them into the castle unseen Sans scratched at his skull nervously. He was not excited about this visit.

****

When the "accident" happened ten years ago Sans had been the one to give the report and take the brunt of the king's anger. Losing his job and reputation in the process. Not that he regretted his actions in the least. Getting out of the capitol was the best choice he had ever made. Even if it had driven the final nail into the coffin with Papyrus. If given the choice to go back in time he would do it all over again. Of course maybe he would do a more thorough job this time.

****

It was really late so as the two small monsters walked deeper and deeper into the royal palace the only sound to be heard was the soft patter of there feet hitting the intricate tile work. Even if they were the only monsters present they still had on there "in public" faces . Alphys had her head held high her face contorted into a sneer that dared anyone to try and fuck with her. She had an air of confidence the was completely manufactured but anyone who didn't know her would think twice before messing with the royal scientist.

****

Sans on the other hand took it a completely different rout. He kept his eye sockets directed at the floor and his hands firmly in his pockets. His slumped posture made him look extremely unimposing. He had learned early on if you kept your eyes down and had an air of submission most monsters would just ignore you. Monster were aggressive by nature but most monsters wouldn't start a fight unless they felt like they had something to prove.

****

When they got to the king's chamber they were greeted by a very familiar fish guard standing outside the doors. Sans was tempted to make a joke about budget cuts but a look at Undyne's face made him think twice. She manage to keep it neutral when she saw Alphys but then her eye narrowed as she caught sight of the monster behind her.

****

"What the _ hell _ is  _ he _ doing here?" Undyne spat in the skeletons direction.

****

"Asgore asked for him specifically" is all Alphys said before moving on to more pressing matters "Speaking of witch is he ready for us?"

****

"I will let him know you are here." Undyne said to Alphys as she turned into the room behind her. As the door slammed shut Sans brought his eye up from the floor and his natural smile tilted up the edges. "Man this is bad Al. If I don't make it out of this meeting... tell Pap's.... I always thought he was a prick."

****

Alphys just rolled her eyes "What so I can meet you in hell? No thank you."

****

Sans shrugged one eye closing "What can I say Al? misery loves company."

****

Then Sans put his game face back on and waited for Undyne to return. When she did Undyne looked unhappy. "The King wants to talk to the little shit first." That's what Sans had been afraid of. Keeping emotion out of his face he walked past Undyne into the open door.

****

The king was sitting on his golden throne looking as intimidating as ever. Sans tried to keep his eyes locked on the floor as he approached the monster that could kill him with a single swipe of his clawed hand. When he got close but not too close the small skelton just stopped as if he was at a loss. In Asgore's hands were a bundle of papers he was looking over silently. He hadn't even acknowledged Sans entrance.

****

After some silence the king finally spoke without ever taking his eye from the papers.

****

"Hello Sans."

****

"H-Hello King A-Asgore."

****

"It appears as if we have some things that need to be discussed."

****

"I g-guess so..." There were so many ways this whole thing could go south. Sans was bracing himself for the worst.

****

"It appears as if your claims of an  _ accident  _ leading to the death of the previous royal scientist were not quite truthful."

****

Sans eyes darted left then right as if searching for the correct answer, Fidgeting uncomfortably he quickly nodded his head.

****

The king put the papers down in his lap and looked at Sans unhappily. "Listen Sans you have already received your punishment for what happened all those years ago..." He rested his head on his left hand as if he were just talking to an old friend. "It is time for you to come clean, now I need to know what really happened. It is now a matter of the utmost importance. If I feel you are lying to me..." He reached down turning his back to the small monster and when he brought his hand back into view he was holding a long red trident. "You will not leave this room alive."

****

Sans couldn't help but feel pissed off. The king clearly did not see him as a threat and was taking his presence so lightly. He had to remind himself this is what he wanted, to appear meek but man if Asgore wasn't making him work for it. Taking in a shaky breath to steady himself Sans started to talk.

****

"Well a-actually Gaster didn't uhhhhh fall into the c-core. That's just where I tossed his d-dust." Sans scratched at the back of his skull. "You see I kind of... killed him? So I d-dumped his dust into the core s-so we could just claim it was an accident. Then no one could ask for his remains."

****

"Sans." Asgore said sternly "I thought I told you not to lie to me?"

****

His skull shot up as he locked eyes with the king. "I'm not  _ lying _ !" Sans said a bit too forcefully.  _ Deep breaths buddy  _ Sans told himself  _ meek and quiet meek and quiet. _

****

"So you are trying to tell me that you Sans,  _ one of the worst sentries of Snowdin _ , killed Gaster? A monster with 1 HP that hides behind the accomplishments of his older brother? If you really wanted me to believe your story you should have at least made it believable." The goat monster held his trident in a more threatening manner. "Now Sans, this is your last chance. Tell me what happened to gaster."

****

Sans now knew he was probably about to die. His act wasn't working. The king didn't like the truth. This was just one more shitty day in a long line of shitty days that seemed to make up his life. He was about to just say fuck it and let the asshole just kill him.

****

Then he thought about Papyrus. His little brother that wasn't so little anymore. He could take care of himself. In fact he had way more stamina and determination then sans ever could. But if Gaster was back and Papyrus was missing.... Did he think Papyrus could handle Gaster on his own? No, he didn't. Gaster would do to Papyrus what he had done to Sans all those years ago and what about Al? If Gaster showed up he wouldn't hesitate to kill her in order to get his position back. He wouldn't make it painless either. She had after all had a hand in his death.

****

Sans had one last crazy plan to make it out of here alive. He was going to stop pretending.

****

He slowly raised his head up in order to look at the king dead on. His back straightened out, Letting the tension drain from his form. He let his normal shit eating grin appear on his face as his body took on a more relaxed stance.

****

"Listen  _ buddy  _ I ain't lyin to ya. I killed that son of a bitch. Then I dumped what was left of his sorry ass into the goddamn core. Where he was burnt up and  _ that's  _ the truth."

****

The fork of the trident smashed down where Sans had been standing only a moment before. His smile never left his face.

****

The king was standing up fur bristling in radge. "You ingrate! I warned you!" The weapon once again swung at Sans who sidestepped out of the way easily. "I spared with Doctor Gaster on several occasions. There is no way he was brought down by a whelp like _ you _ ." Asgore snarled as he summoned his fire magic.

****

Sans just stood there waiting for the next attack. His eye blazed with red magic as he braced himself. Fire magic finally fully formed Asgore released a pillar of flame at the skeleton. The inferno was intense as blue flames consumed the area Sans had been standing. When the flames cleared all that was left on the floor were some scorch marks.

****

Thinking he had just killed the little impudent monster Asgore let out a breath and relaxed. Turning around to get back on his throne his vision was momentarily blinded by a bright white light as the air around him seemed to momentarily disappear. His ears were assaulted by the sound of an explosion and as the ringing eventually subsided the sound of rubbled settling.

****

Standing on his throne hands in his pockets empty eye sockets locked on the kings was Sans. Above him floated two giant animal skulls one mouth closed with steam rising from it muzzle the other had its jaws slightly parted with a light shining through it teath meansingly.

****

"I missed on purpose you know." Sans stated with a dead voice.

****

Asgore just eyed the blaster wearily and noded.

****

"You’re just like him. He underestimated me too but now he's dead." He continued in the same voice.

****

After a moment Sans pupils returned "I don't want to kill you." With a wave of his hand the skulls disappeared. He jumped down from the throne and almost looked embarrassed. "Sorry your majesty, I just had to prove to you I wasn't lying."

****

The king was speechless. He had not expected such ferocity from the 1 HP monster. All he could thing to say was "How are you just a sentry?"

****

That seemed to strike Sans as funny and he started to laugh. "Can we keep this between the two of us?" Sans finally asked when calmed down. "I don't want to ruin my reputation of being a lazy piece of shit. If this got out people might actually try to get me to  _ do _ things."

****

The king turned around to look at the damage Sans managed to inflict. One of the pillars in the room was nothing more than a pile of various sized rocks. "If you really did kill him and through his dust into the core as you claim..." Asgore looked back "Then how is he alive and causing trouble?"

****

Sans looked as if he had been thinking about this as well. All he said though was "I have no idea."

****  
  



	6. Starting to piece things together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plot Dump :P Also new tags!

It hurt

****

It hurt It hurt ithurtithurtithurtithur-

****

Why...

****

What was happening?

****

Where...

****

_ Oh god it hurt _

****

_ * * * * _

****

Sans had no idea if Asgore would do with all this new information but he didn't have much time to ponder it as he peeked his head out the door into the palace hallway.

****

Undyne and Alphys were sitting against the far wall talking to each other. As Sans opened

the door wider they both looked at him with different emotions. Alphys seemed relieved where Undyne just seemed annoyed.

****

"I see  _ you're _ still alive." The guard spit. 

****

"I  _ told _ you he would be." Alphys said snarkily.

****

Undyne's smile grew as she playfully shoved the little lizard, who let out a squeak and toppled onto her side. smiling trying to stifle more giggles Alphys stayed like that for a few seconds before Sans finally spoke up.

****

"Uhhhhh sorry Alphys but it's your turn."

****

Alphys nodded, grabbed her papers and shuffled past Sans all in less than a minute.  _ She must be really nervous _ he thought as he sauntered over to where the lovebirds had been sitting and leaned against the wall. Undyne was back at her post purposely not looking in his direction.

****

He didn't care. Sans was used to being ignored it was just easier this way. He pulled out his phone just in case Papyrus had messaged him since he last checked.

****

He had not.

****

Flipping through his contacts until he found Papyrus he hit the call button. Only to be greeted by more static. This was getting less and less funny as time wore on. Sans decided that he was just going to have to go with plan B.

****

***Hey boss, just wanted to check in. It's getting kind of late.**

****

_ Come on Papyrus just respond. _

****

*** I know you're a busy guy but if you could just send me a text when you get this I would really appreciate it.**

****

_ This stopped being funny like thirty minutes ago bro. _

****

*** heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey my bro's gone for the night meet me at grilbys**

****

_ There is no way he can ignore that. _

****

***Sorry boss wrong number. Do you want me to get you something from grillbys? Some burg or fries?**

****

_ Seriously I will take the beating if you just  _ **_pick up your goddam phone!_ **

****

Sans was so absorbed in his own little hell that he didn't notice the looming figure of Undyne standing over him. That was until one of her steall boots kicked him in the tibia.

****

"Shit" he yelped as he grabbed the bone. "The fuck Undyne?"

****

Undynes shark grin was spread from ear to ear and she kicked him again on the other leg.  _ Man she really doesn't like me. _

****

"The King wants to brief us on the situation." Undyne said grin faltering a bit.

****

" _ Us _ ?" Sans asked skeptically.

****

"I said the same fucking thing. Now get your sorry ass of the floor and into that room. That is unless you would like another kick."

****

Sans shook his head furiously.

****

"Then come one you little prick." She said putting a hand behind his back and shoving him in the direction of the throne room once again."I don't have all night."

****

* * * *

****

As soon as everyone was settled Asgore began.

****

"Now all three of you have varying amounts of information on the incident that has taken place here today. I will be going over everything in order, chronologically. You  _ will _ hold all questions until the end."

****

Undyne raised her hand.

****

Asgore sighed "Yes Captain Undyne?"

****

"I have one question before we start." She pointed an accusatory finger at Sans who flinched away as if he had been swung at. "Why is  _ he _ here instead of Papyrus ?"

****

Asgore gave the Captain a warning glare "I will explain everything in due time Undyne if you would let me proceed?"

****

She huffed angrily but didn't speak again,

****

"Good, Now as I was saying this shouldn't take too long because we have very little information at this point. Last night at about three in the morning a part of our underground camera network went dark. Alphys alerted me to this fact at about 7 this morning. Then at 8:45 the theft was discovered."

****

All three listening looked to each other in confusion but stayed silent.

****

"Now this theft was of a very important item, so important that a large part of the underground was put under lockdown. It was to no avail though and the item was not found. Now an hour ago I am informed that a certain person who was supposed to be dead was spotted by the core."

****

The king looked at each person present before continuing. "I suspect that Dr. W.D. Gaster is the culprit. I think he stole one of the human souls so he could continue his research on determination. Everything that has happened is just too coincidental. Now the reason Papyrus is not joining us is because we have no idea where he is. I suspect that he may be involved somehow."

****

The four monsters sat in silence for a few moments before someone finally spoke up. That someone was Undyne.

****

"So what are we going to do about this?"

****

"Well I think it would be best to get the soul back before any damage is done to it. Alphys how much Determination can be taken from a soul before it becomes useless to us and how long does it take to drain a soul?"

****

"Well it really depends" She said look at the floor looking thoughtful. "If he really is hiding out at the core like I think he is then getting started will not be too difficult. We use the lower floors as storage and I think he would have everything he need to patch up one of the old DT extractors. I say under the best circumstances it might take him four or five hours to get one in working order. Draining a soul takes time and if he is really going off the rails and wants to drain it completely it would take about seven to twelve hours depending on what soul he took."

****

As Alphys continued with her explanation and estimations Sans felt a buzz from his pocket. He reached in frantically hoping for a message from his brother. He was not disappointed, that is until he read the text message.

****

**My apologies I am spending the night at Undyne's place see you tomorrow night.**

****

He was shocked, this was all the proof he needed. There was no way Papyrus would have let the Grillbys comment slide and Unyne was kind of sitting just in front of him. "Shit" The small skeleton breathed out. Undyne hearing his little swear turned around and scowled at him. "Watch your mouth punk." All sans did was hand his phone to Undyne who took it confused.

****

"What am I looking at?" She asked look at the text on screen.

****

"What you are looking at is a text from my brothers phone. One he just sent me." Her eyes widened almost comically before looking up at Sans. "What the fuck?" She said to no one in particular. "Ya." Sans replied looking down at his hands. There was no way Papyrus had sent that message he would never apologise to Sans in any capacity.

****  
Something was very wrong and Sans was starting to get very worried.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So ya new chapter! (wow this is turning out a lot longer then I expected it to!) Anyways as always I hope you enjoy! :D


	7. Text Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A decision is made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter? So soon?! Yea I had nothing to do today so I just did this all day :I instead of holding onto it I just wanted to get it out there. So I hope you enjoy.

W.D. Gaster had been the royal scientist for so many years he lost count as they blurred together and bleed into a stream of events. Sometimes he couldn't tell you if something had happened a week ago or ten years ago. However jumbled his memory was all the information from those years was locked away and accessible whenever he needed it.

****

He used this knowledge now. He had kept his prisoner successfully sedated. Got the extractor running at 75% capacity. Everything was going well and according to plan. The DT would take a bit longer to distill then normally but in all honestly to have found the supplies he needed without having to make another risky run was better than he had hoped for.

****

After a couple of hours he even had enough DT to start his subject on a drip.

****

There were many ways to get DT into a subject. Injection was a viable method but lead to some messy outcomes if the subject couldn't handle the dosage. He didn't want to reduce his skeleton to a pile of mush... yet.

****

No the safest method would be to put him on a slow drip. That way he could monitor the DT in his system and slow things down if his subject got to soft or started to lose shape.

****

The ex royal scientist made his way down an old disused tunnel in the lower level of the Core. In one hand he had a vile half filled with a red liquid. He made his way to one of the offices that lined the corridor the only office with a light on. Inside his subject was strapped down and unconscious. Gaster had to prepare the new IV drip. When he had left earlier he had removed the old IV that had been giving the sleeping skeleton his sedative.

****

He wanted him to be awake for this part.

****

It would probably take another thirty minutes or so for him to wake up on his own but he wanted to start the new drip as soon as possible. Now the real question was how much to give him at first. He stared at the vile in hand and pondered that. The subjects brother, by the last phase of testing, had been able to handle three times this amount in one go. However it had taken years to get to that point.

****

As he put together the new IV he decided he would only use four or five drops from the vile. He wanted this to last as long as possible the best way to drag this out would be to start out small and ramp it up until the subject either lost his mind or his body fell apart from the strain. He was curious which would happen first.

****

Before he started the drip the Doctor had to take certain precautions. First he had to remove the subjects straps and clothes. Anything restricting the subject could cause irreversible damage to the bones when they started to soften. The subject wouldn't be running anywhere with the pain, Gaster would be impressed if he could even remain coherent during the process.

****

Throwing the clothes on the floor he hooked up the new bag and added the DT. Because the IV was hooked directly to the subject's soul the reaction was instantaneous. Immediately limbs started to twitch and its head jerked left and right almost like it couldn't belive what was happening. Whimpers and moans left its clenched jaws.

****

Gaster smiled, this isn't what he had originally wanted but he was making the best of a bad situation. This was turning out to be quite fun indeed. It was going to be awhile before the real fun began so he decided to take a seat and relax until the time came.

****

Picking up the discarded clothing Dr. Gaster made his way to the corner where there was an old dusty desk and chair. Tossing the clothing onto the wooden desk and taking a seat Gaster was prepared to just sit and wait for a while and relax.

****

That was until he heard a buzzing sound from the table caught his attention. Ever the curious soul Gaster tried to decipher where the noise had come from. He opened a couple of desk drawers but finding nothing that could cause such a noise he became more confused. Then he heard the buzz again from above him this time. Raising his eyes to the top of the desk his crooked smile widened as his hand closed on the pile of black fabric on the desktop.

****

As his hand closed on the fabric he felt a vibration and knew he had figured it out. Finding a pocket in the pants he fished out a small black flip phone. Opening it revealed that there was three missed messages.

****

**Buzz**

****

Make that four. Flipping open the phone he read through the messages.

****

***Hey boss, just wanted to check in. It's getting kind of late.**

****

*** I know you're a busy guy but if you could just send me a text when you get this I would really appreciate it.**

****

*** heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey my bro's gone for the night meet me at grilbys**

****

***Sorry boss wrong number. Do you want me to get you something from grillbys? Some burg or fries?**

****

The caller ID informed him that the person sending the messages was none other then his favorite little traitor, Sans.

****

This could be extremely beneficial for the doctor. He just had to decided how he wanted to proceed. He was in no way prepared to handle Sans or hold him at the moment. Gaster also wanted to give his full attention to his new test subject. He could always get Sans to come to the Core and then he could kill him but where would the fun in that be? Sans needed to suffer, he needed to be filled with pain and the knowledge that everything he loved, everything he had worked for all amounted to nothing. That he was truly powerless. Gaster wanted to look into those big sad eyes as he was slowly and painfully turned to dust.

****

What better way to kill some of that spark then to present his precious brother to him in a jar. Just a pile of dust or , if everything worked out, as a pile of barely sentient sludge.

****

He could use this phone to his advantage but he needed to be strategic, he needed time. He needed to stall and get all of his pieces lined up.

****

His white slender fingers tapped away at the buttons and when he was satisfied he hit send.

****

**My apologies I am spending the night at Undyne's place see you tomorrow night.**

****

Good that would buy him some time.

****

*** hey no problem bro just have fun. Talk to you later love ya.**

****

Ok so apparently those two had become much closer since he had seen them last. Should he just leave it at that? No Papyrus was quite the talker and always love to have the last word.

****

**Love you too Sans.**

****

Ok that felt weird.

****

* * * *

****

Undyne growled at the phone "Ya that's fucking weird."

****

She was holding the phone and had moved so she was sitting with Sans on her right Alphys on her left and Asgore curiously looking over her shoulder. "I have personally trained that lousy punk since he was a teen, I know that guy like the back of my hand, there is  _ no way _ this is him."

****

"heh I've lived with the guy since he was a  _ kid  _ and he has never said the L word. That is most definitely is not him." Sans had his arms crossed and a his smile was tilted down at the corners.

****

"N-not to mention that this person lied about being with Undyne right now." Alphys leaned partially into Undynes lap so she could get a better look at the Phone. "What s-should we do?"

****

Asgore spoke up from behind them. "Could it be Gaster? If so why would he want Papyrus?"

****

The three sitting on the floor pondered this question. "Well he could be trying to get back at me and Alphys for what happened but then why try and hide it?" Sans pondered aloud.

****

"A-and Papyrus is really really strong how did Gaster get the upper hand? I have never seen anyone sneak up on him before." Alphys added.

****

"Of course not! He is only second to myself! I trained that bone-head so well he could take on almost anyone in the underground!" Undyne was getting pumped which could be good or bad.

****

Sans didn't know what the deal was. However he did know that Gaster was probably the cause. That asshole sure knew how to hold a grudge. Sans himself was not the type to ever put forth any amount of effort if papyrus wasn't threatening with violence. Said little brother was now in trouble though and there was no way in hell Sans was going to let Gaster hurt him again.

****

"Well I guess we should go get him then." Sans said getting up off the floor.

****

Immediately Undyne was up and holding the small skeleton by the back of his jacket. " _ You _ are not going anywhere."

****

Asgore spoke up then in his no nonsense voice that even made Undyne flinch. "No one is going anywhere without  _ my permission _ ."

****

Undyne went ridged and held her hand up in a solute dropping Sans in the process.. "Yes, Sir."

****

"Yea, yea." The Sans said from his back on the floor. Undyne kicked him on the leg again. "Ow, what is up with you and legs!" Sans said through gritted teeth and Undyne just smiled down at him clearly happy with herself.

****

Alphys was trying to stifle laughs again as she watched her girlfriend and her movie buddy fight with each other.

****

Asgore just sighed and pinched his nose in frustration. "You too better start playing nice, I am sending the two of you into the core to asses the situation."

****

Undyne looked down at the 1HP monster lying on the floor at her feet and just said "No."

****

Sans raised his hand to point at the fish monster "For once I agree with the fish bitch."

****  
Asgore just stared at the two with cold eyes. "The two of you will either leave this room headed to the core or you will be carried out of this room as dust."   



	8. Core arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans and Undyne arrive at the core.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeaaaaaaaaaaa next chapter shits gonna get realllllllllll! \\(@u~)/

Sans and Undyne made there way to the Core complex.You would be hard pressed to find a more mismatched and unwilling team of monsters in the underground. Asgore had given the two temporary key cards so they could access any area they needed to. They could have probably gotten there a lot faster if Sans had decided to use his teleportation ability but he was painfully aware anything he did in front of the guard would find its way back to Papyrus eventually.

****

It was bad enough Asgore knew as much as he did. Sans didn't need this getting any worse, so walking it was, and Undyne was not going easy on him. He was use to trying to keep up with his younger brothers long strides. Undyne was only a few inches taller than Papyrus but she apparently had a much quicker pace that had. almost jogging to keep up with her.

****

When they finally did start to get close to the Core faculty entrance Undyne abruptly stopped leaving Sans to basically run into her back. She looked down at the him for a second before she seemed to come to a decision and crouched down to his level. "Listen runt we need to have a little chat before heading in there."

****

"Sure." He replied after a taking a moment to get his breath back.

****

"This is going to be a very risky mission. I have no idea why Asgore would send you with me but there is  _ no way  _ you can handle this. You have no weapons training, no amour, clearly no endurance, and worst of all you only have 1 measly HP keeping from keeling over."

****

"Wow  _ thanks _ "

****

She scowled at him but just continued on regardless.

****

"I can't guarantee your safety in there but maybe if you stay out of my way, keep your head down, and stay close you might make it out of this situation alive."

****

"How generous of you." Sans supposed he should be grateful for the offer but all he could think was how much of a pain in the ass this whole mess was going to be.

****

"Hey, I would have probably dusted you by now if you weren't Papyrus' brother but keep up that attitude... " She stood back up "Well I think you get the idea. Come one ya little prick."

****

* * * *

****

The Core Complex was a large building that could be seen for miles around. The metallic structure was illuminated by the orange glow cast off from the lava that surrounded everything. In Hotland even in the middle of the night you couldn't avoid the light it was everywhere, Just like the heat.

****

Anyone who wasn't completely insane was tucked away safely in their homes. The only sounds to be heard were the quiet bubbling of the lava far below and the soft hiss of the steam vents.

****

Slowly two pairs of quiet footsteps could be heard. One was trying very hard to be quiet the other just didn't have the mass to make too much noise.

****

The bigger of the two, as they approached, broke into a sprint. Without ever looking behind them they made it into the core facility in a matter of seconds. The smaller of the two stood there for a moment watching their partners slowly shrinking form. Then they to were gone. In the blink of an eye everything was silent once more.

****

Only the echoing of footsteps slowly fading proved they had ever been there and soon even that was gone.

****

* * * *

****

Inside the actual complex Undyne was sprinting as fast as her legs could carry her. She had no idea where she was headed but she figured the doctor would hear her and show himself for a good old fashioned brawl or she would run into him first giving her the element of surprise.

****

Reaching the end of the first hallway she used the metal railing to shift her momentum so she could go right. Half power sliding held stumbling into the next hallway. She needed to find this jerk as soon as possible. Asgore had made that painfull clear during their debriefing.

****

She needed to draw him out and get that soul back. It was their future, their hope, It was one of the only things keeping everyone from going crazy and killing each other. Still running she took a deep breath and started to yell.

****

"GASTER WHERE THE FUC-"

****

But she was cut off as she was slammed to the floor knocking the breath out of her lungs. The guards training kicked in and she tried to roll out of the way of a possible attack but her body was heavy and not responding the way she wanted it to. Her eyes scanned the area struggling to locate the source of the attack. Then out of a side passage she hadn't noticed until now. A familiar small sentry strolled out into her view.

****

She knew this was a bad idea but she had no clue Sans had been working for Gaster the whole time.Her eyes narrowed in anger and she drew in her breath to try and yell at him. However Sans ran over to Undyne and planted a firm hand over her mouth.

****

"shhhhhhhh. what the hell are you _ thinking _ ?"

****

The force that was holding her down was suddenly gone. Her body was hers again and used it too pin Sans on the floor under herself and restrained him.

****

"I am thinking bringing you on this mission was _ fucking _ mistake." She hissed voice just dripping with venom.

****

Sans looked shocked for a moment before his eye also narrowed in anger.

****

"If anyone was a mistake it was  _ you.  _ Why were you yelling? Were you trying to wake the whole dam Underground? If Gaster had heard you-"

****

"-Then we could find him sooner!" She cut him off.

****

"Do you even know what kind of monster we are dealing with here?!"

****

Undyne had never seen Sans so passionate before. Actually the only times she had ever seen the runt was if she caught him sleeping at one of his posts or if he was accompanying Papyrus for some reason. He had never seemed like much of a fighter but now his eyes were alight with anger and didn't have that empty look she had always associated with him.

****

She slowly lifted her weight off of him allowing Sans to sit up and rub at his head where it had collided with the ground.

****

"So tell me." She demanded.

****

"If he knows we know what he is up to that bastard is going to bolt." Sans' eyes locked with Undynes "This needs to be a stealth mission."

****

The guardsman just rolled her eye. "Well you could have told me that sooner  _ shrimp _ ."

****

Sitting in the hallway not sure how to proceed Undyne tried to reassess her battle plan. She needed to be quiet. But if she was how would they find Gaster? She decided to ask the guy who had actually worked for the Doctor.

****

"So how do we find him?"

****

"Well we should start at the most abandoned places and work our way out from there. He is probably scavenging parts so we should start at the lowest storage level and work our way back up." Sans stood up and brushed himself off. "Sorry about that by the way."

****

Monster do not apologise in the underground. It shows too much weakness so the fact Sans was apologising to her was a sign of respect she couldn't help but acknowledge. "Ya Ya whatever shrimp. So Gravity magic huh? Like Papyrus."

****

"...yea."

****

Then Sans was off down the hallway. Undyne had no idea where anything was so just just followed him deeper and deeper into the faculty. The two of them kept an eye open for anything suspicious but nothing jumped out at them. Eventually they found themselves in from of an elevator. Sans pulled out his keycard and swiped it into the elevator access panel. There was a beep then the door swung open.

****

"Lady's first" Sans said gesturing towards the door and bowing slightly.

****

Undyne just shook her head and made her way into the small compartment. Sans followed and punched in the level they were headed to.

****

As the numbers on the electronic readout got smaller and smaller Sans reached into his pocket  pulled out his phone and held it up to his skull. "Welp that answers that."

****

"What?"

****

"Static, nothing but static. Just like when i tried to call Papyrus earlier."

****

Undyne pulled out her phone and tried to call Alphys, all she got was static.

****

"Shit so he is here somewhere." Undyne said almost sadly.

****

Sans tensed and nodded.

****

"Well if Gaster laid a single hand on my protege I am gonna kick his ass!" Undyne said with gusto. This is what she was good at. This is what she had trained for. To kick the ever loving shit out of any monster that stepped out of line.

****  
And boy had this asshole stepped out of line.   



	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne and Sans find some stuff.

The Core itself had 5 levels. A basement, a sub-basement, an office level for clerical and administrative work, an observation and monitoring level which housed most of the machinery actively maintaining the Core itself, then the ground floor.

********  
  


The offices had been moved to the capital soon after the core was built because monsters were complaining about the commute when they did no actual work on the core. So when the basements filled up with junk the old office spaces became kind of like an overflow storage.

********  
  


Which meant three levels of junk that had to be sorted through. The sub-basement was a mess of old construction equipment and building material. Everything covered in a thick layer of dust. As they entered they left a pair of footprints in the filthy floor. The only pair of footprints, Sans of course insisted that they should just move on to the next floor but Undyne would have none of that. So the two searched through the junk for a good thirty minutes before she was finally satisfied.

********  
  


Next was the Larger and more frequently used upper basement. Twice as large and with twice the crap it took them twice as long. However like the sub-basement they came up empty handed. Well almost, Halfway through Sans found some of the old DT extractors.

********  
  


They had most certainly been scavenged for parts. The person who had done it must have been in a rush or just unskilled because they had been handled poorly. It looked as if someone had taken a crowbar to the machines. Glass was broken, metal peeled back revealing the inner workings, If certain key piece hadn't been missing from the mess Sans would have said someone just really wanted to destroy that shit.

********  
  


The picture was coming into focus and nether Sans nor Undyne liked what it was showing them. The worrying bit was not so much the broken machines but the fact that after an hour they could not find the complete one. There was also still no sign of Gaster or Papyrus. The two monsters were starting to get really frustrated as they made there was back to the elevator empty handed.

********  
  


Undyne pulled out her key card and let them both into the waiting elevator. They both just stood there silently Sans was exhausted from all the work and Undyne was thoughtful she knew that if they couldn't find the machine or the soul they would be in some major shit. It was here somewhere but apparently the doctor had hid it well.

********  
  


Sans on the other hand was thinking of something very different. He knew how to hide his feelings well but every hour that ticked by saw him more and more anxious. The broken extractors had only meant one thing to him, Papyrus was in trouble. He had promised himself that there was no way he would let his brother become an experiment,. Now year after the threat had supposedly been taken care of it was back and doing thing Sans and kept at bay for so long.

********  
  


If Gaster had hurt his brother again then there was going to be hell to pay. The king would be lucky to even get the dust back for a trial.The ding of the elevator pulled the two out of their thoughts and back into the present. What awaited them was a long lonely hallway. On either side were doors, so many doors.

****

"Well, let's get started then." The guardsman said most of her earlier enthusiasm had drain away and she just sounded resigned.

****

"Don't sound too excited."

****

"We haven't found _ anything _ yet." Undyne said kicking the wall leaving a sizeable dent. "We are so _ fucked _ ."

****

"Listen" Sans said rubbing the bone above his nasal cavity. "The more areas we rule out the higher our chances of finding something next floor is."

****

"Well if we don't find something soon my ass isn't the only one on line shrimp."

****

"As you are so fond of reminding me." Sans grumbled.

****

"Hey you want to say that to my face shit head." Undyne said taking a fighting stance.

****

"Sure bitch i said-"

****

Glorious as there fight might have been Sans witty retort, and possibly death warrant, was cut short by a loud yelp of pain from further down the hall. The two went silent realizing how loud their argument had gotten. If Gaster was anywhere nearby he had most certainly heard that.

****

Undyne immediately started forward quietly followed closely by Sans. As they worked their way down the hallway they began to hear soft noises of distress. Whimpering moaning sometimes the occasional yelp it would be heartbreaking if it wasn't so commonplace in there world. As it was though those noises should not have been coming from this abandoned office space.

****

_ No _ noises should have been coming from this abandoned office space. It was difficult to locate the source of the noises while staying hidden. They had to go up to each door individually and listen to see if the noises were originating from inside. Sans took the left and Undyne took the left. The fourth door Undyne came too seemed to be the right one. She signaled to Sans and they both stood outside.

****

Undyne used her hands to make several complicated hand gestures, none of which the sentry understood. It was way above his paygrade so he just noned and gave a thumbs up hoping whatever she had tried to tell him wasn't too important.

****

Undyne gave him one of her biggest, toothiest, shakiest grins and kicked the door down in a movement so smooth one moment there was a door the next only an open hole with hinges. Sans had no time to recover as his companion charged in at top speed into the room.

****

Sans stood there stunned for a moment before he heard Undyne shout angrily and there was an exposition of blue magic from inside. Sans ran in eye glowing red ready to kick some major ass but all he saw was Undyne, a smoldering hole in the wall, and what appeared to be a medical gurney hooked up with machinery.

****

"GET BACK HERE YOU SON OF A BITCH!" she was yelling in the direction of an air vent.

****

"What happened!" Sans said panic rising.

****

"HE BOLTED, HE FUCKING BOLTED!" She yelled incoherently. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME HE COULD DO THAT?!"

****

"Do  _ what _ !?"

****

"MELT!" She yelled letting another energy spear fly at the wall. "He just MELTED through that grate and got AWAY!"

****

" _ Fuck"  _ Sans breathed before he turned his head to look at the table. "Fuck!" He said louder when he spotted the monster lying there.

****

"I know we have to go find him! We need to find out where that thing leads to." She said as she started to bolt from the room. As she ran past Sans he grabbed her arm hard enough to do damage. She turned to yell something at him. Probably something about how he was a lazy sack of shit or all the creative ways she could dust him. Her breath left her lungs as she saw what he saw.

****

Lying on a metal medical table completely naked with wires and tubes running into his chest cavity was none other than Papyrus of the royal guard. His eyes were open but unseeing occasionally a spasm would rack his frame and a yelp of pain would escape his mouth. When he wasn't making loud noises soft whines would escape his partially opened jaws.

****  
Something was wrong, Gaster had done something to his brother, and the sinking feeling in his gut along with the pinkish clear liquid filling up the IV bag told him what it was.   



	10. Undyne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things just keep getting better and better.

This was just FUCKING wonderful.

****

Undyne was to tired to deal with this shit, but this was her job. So instead of standing their like an idiot her immediate reaction was to try and figure out where that asshole was headed.

****

She immediately spun around ready to bolt into the hallway and continue her pursuit when she heard Sans say "fuck" in a shocked tone.

****

The little prick was just  _ standing _ there. She should have been more firm when she told Asgore she didn't want him on this god forsaken mission. He was just proving her point.

****

Not wanting Gaster to get away Undyne ran for the door as she said "I know we have to go find him! We need to find out where that thing leads to."

****

As she was running past Sans, who still had that dumbfounded look on his face, she felt a hand grab onto her wrist harshly. It was enough to make Undyne flinch she might have been impressed if Sans wasn't  _ slowing her dow- _

****

Her anger and thought process was immediately shut down when she saw what Sans was looking at.

****

Lying unconscious on a table in from the the captain of the royal guard was the vice captain of the royal guard. There were things going to his chest cavity, upon closer inspection it looked like Papyrus was hooked up to some machines. Whatever was happening the tall skeleton was obviously in some kind of distress.

****

"Papyrus?" Undyne asked hesitantly but their was no response. His blank eye sockets just kept contact with the ceiling . She was torn between helping Papyrus and continuing her pursuit.

****

A painful twinge in her wrist reminded her that she didn't have to make that choice.

****

Sans hadn't moved and was just standing there with her wrist in a death grip staring at his brother blankly.

****

"Sans?" Undyne asked as she pried his hand away but there was no response he just stood there looking shell shocked.

****

"Sans." Undyne tried again with more force

****

"SANS." She finally yelled grabbing his shoulders and giving him a good shake. He still looked dazed but his eye lights shifted towards her face letting her know she had his full atchison.

****

"Can you handle this?" when he didn't answer her immediately she shook him again and yelled louder.

****

"CAN YOU HANDLE THIS?"

****

"Yes!" Sans said shoving her hands off his shoulders violently. "I got this."

****

"GOOD!" she responded once more heading for the door. This was now very personal.

****

Undyne had known Papyrus since he was a young eager recruit, green behind his metaphorical ears. Papyrus never gave up and  _ always _ gave one hundred and ten percent to any and all situations. You could beat him down again and again and he would just spring back up like a goddamn weed.

****

She could never have asked for a better underling. Even when they argued, which was constantly, it was always refreshing. He was one of the only people she knew who wasn't afraid to voice his opinions when he thought she was wrong. To see him so week made her extremely mad.

****

"GASTER!!!" Undyne yelled running down the hall with no destination in mind.

****

* * * *

****

It had taken Undyne way too long to calm down and start searching for air vents he could have used to escape. When she finally realised how hopeless that endeavor was she went back to the offices and started kicking in doors one by one. There was no sign of the elusive doctor but she did find some of the storage rooms.

****

Sans had shown her what the DT extractors looked like in the basement so she had an idea of what she was looking for. She found nothing though and was starting to get riled up again.

****

When she came to last last room and found no gaster and no extractor her rage boiled over.

****

"FUCKING GASTER!" was all the warning anyone got before a cardboard box full of papers flew into the hallway and exploded. The box was followed by a chair that splinted and made a dent in the wall. Next was another box full little metal bits and bobs.

****

A desk was the next logical choice but being too large to fit through the door there was a loud thud and more incoherent yelling. Having thoroughly demolished the office space she shoved the desk blocking the door to the side and walked back the only door still attached to its hinges.

****

Opting to use the doorknob this time she walked into the room to see how the skeleton brothers were doing. Inside Sans was fussing over Papyrus the younger of the two was no longer hooked up to machinery. He was sitting against the far wall wearing his pants but still shirtless.

****

Sans seemed to be pressing his hand against various bones along his brothers upper half as if testing them.

****

When the door opened Papyrus looked up. His stoic face giving no hint to his emotions whatsoever. Sans saw his brother looking at the door and turned to see Undyne standing there.

****

"Heya." Sans said getting up off the floor and taking a few steps away from Papyrus.

****

Undyne was ecstatic to see Papyrus seemingly aware and, if not completely his old self, at least not acting like a whiny baby anymore. She nodded in greeting and Papyrus returned the gesture.

****

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

****

"Like shit." was his reply. For any normal monster the inside voice would be normal but for the yell happy guardsman it was practically a whisper.

****

"He still gonna need some time before we can move him." Sans said leaning against a wall.

****

Papyrus made a face like he wanted to argue but then seemed to think better of it and just mumbled something under his breath looking pissed off.

****

"Ok you got fifteen minutes while I go make sure Gasters not hiding upstairs with that soul. If I am not back by then you to go back and get reinforcements from the king."

****

"Yes, Sir."Papyrus said from his sitting position on the wall.

****

She glared at Sans and he just gave a half nod and a mocking salute. Undyne was so tired of dealing with that asshole she just took that as her opportunity to leave.

****

Using her key card to get to the next level she was prepared for just about anything, well almost anything. When the doors slid open revealing a large open space filled with pipes and machinery, she had not been prepared for that.

****

It was huge but lucily for her everything was neatly organized. It looked like every machine had its place and every machine was in said place. She had no idea what half this shit did but she knew what a soul looked like and she knew what Gaster looked like so it should be hard to do a once over of the place.

****

Picking up a light jog as she went down every aisle inspecting things and coming up empty. Undyne was about to leave the observation level completely when she remembered she hadn't even looked into the observation room yet. Jogging to the far side of the room and using her keycard to get the heavy metal door to open Undyne stepped into the observation room itself.

****

It was nothing special. A couple of desks some filing cabinets the only thing that marked the room as anything but a normal office space was the wall made up of nothing but a large sheet of thick blast resistant glass.

****

Undyne didn't even have to turn on a light because the ambient light given off by the core was plenty to see by. Having already looked through most of the compound she had a system in place. Walking through the room opening every drawer and cabinet on her circle of the room. When she was done with that she grabbed one of the office chairs and took a quick peek in the vent. Finding nothing she angrily kicked over the chair she had been standing on.

****

Undyne was ready to leave the space when on a whim she glanced at the core itself. She was familiar with the core because Alphys had taken her here a few times in the past. Undyne really loved to hear the lizard talk about anything and everything that perked her interest. It was a welcome distraction from the stress of everyday life in this hell hole.

****

The Core was always a favorite destination for Alphys. When Undyne had asked why Alphys had told her it was because she liked the quiet. That was true, it took special access to get into the core facility and it was a rare safe zone. If they planned their visits they could usually catch some alone time in this very room.

****

A not so sharky smile was playing across Undyne’s face. She turned her head to get a good look at that compressed ball of plasma. When she caught sight of it the grin dropped. She had seen the core enough times to know it wasn't supposed to look like  _ that. _

****  
Pulling out her cell she snapped a few photos before depositing it back into her armour. As she turned to leave the room and head back down to the two brother waiting downstairs she muttered to herself. "This day just keeps getting better and better."   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! As you who follow me on tumblr already know this chapter took a bit longer then I would have liked to get written. Sometimes those are just the breaks @~@.
> 
> Anyways its out now so as always hope you enjoy!


	11. Sans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus wakes up.

********  
  


This was not happening.

********  
  


There was no way this was real.

********  
  


Papyrus was strong, Papyrus was volatile, Papyrus was... well not whatever the hell this was.

********  
  


The bag had a slight red tint to it.

********  
  


That was way too much.

********  
  


Sans and Alphys had worked out a rule for a safe first dose of DT. If you can see the DT it's too much.

********  
  


God with this much there was bound to be side effects. Softened bones, temporarily delayed motor functions, how was his brother not screaming out in pain right now? Sans would be.

********  
  


Of course Papyrus was a lot tougher than he could ever be.

********  
  


"-ANS" He was jostled out of his thoughts violently.

********  
  


He looked over to see Undyne clearly agitated.

********  
  


"Can you handle this?"

********  
  


Before he could even open his mouth to reply she was already shaking him.

********  
  


"CAN YOU HANDLE THIS?"

********  
  


"Yes!" He said getting those damn hands off of himself. "I got this."

********  
  


She stared at him for a moment as if making sure Sans really did have this. Seemingly stratified Undyne yelled "GOOD!" And left the two brothers alone.

********  
  


Sans could hear her footsteps fading down the hallway. "Where the hell does she think she’s going." He said to no one in particular.

********  
  


Eye sockets going dark Sans turned back to task at hand.

********  
  


First things first assessing the damage.

********  
  


Sans small hands hovered over Papyrus ribcage hesitantly.

********  
  


"Ok , This is bad but not the worst I've seen." Sans didn't know if he was comforting himself or his brother but he continued on anyways.

********  
  


"Boss I am going to apply slight pressure to rib number 7 on your left." There was no response so Sans went ahead and put his index finger on the bone and pushed down slightly.

********  
  


The gasp let him know that yes Papyrus did feel pain but lucily it was not as bad as he thought. When he pulled away there was only a slight indent in the bone where his finger had been. Sans assumed it was a combination of his brothers strong constitution and the fact he hadn't been on the drip to long.

********  
  


Now he knew the extent of the tissue softening Sans could focus on the next bit.

********  
  


"Boss I'm gona have to remove the shit attached to your soul. I'm sorry ahead of time 'cause this ain't goona be fun for you."

********  
  


Sans took a few deep breaths he needed to stop shaking if he was going to do this without causing any more damage. Clearly Gaster had already forcefully manifested his brothers soul. It needed to be allowed to fade naturally but that wasn't going to happen with all the stuff stuck to it.

****

The shaking in his hands did not subside but at least he got it to the point where it wasn't so much of a nuisance. Sans shifted his position so he could get better access to the interior of his siblings ribcage.

****

Trying not to bump the still fragile bone, he managed to get a hold of the inverted heart that was his little brothers soul.

****

Papyrus seemed to tense but continued to stay still. Working quickly he pulled of a few small patches that were attached to some monitoring junk. After that was done he had to take out the needle that was inserted into the very center of Papyrus' being.

****

"Papyrus this is gonna hurt but seriously do  _ not _ move." Sans didn't think his brother could hear him but he really hoped this didn't go as bad as it could.

****

Deciding it was probably best just to treat this situation like pulling off a bandaid he used one hand to grab the needle the other to keep the soul steady. One swift movement later the needle was out and he was removing his hands as carefully as he could.

****

" _ Mother Fucker _ ." Papyrus hissed from above him and sans looked up startled to see Papyrus was looking at him one eye closed and his face scrunched up in obvious discomfort.

****

"Boss!" Sans said scrambling to his feet. "Are you ok? How are you feeling?"

****

"Not great" Papyrus said his normally loud demanding voice reduced to a more reasonable level. "Where is that son of a bitch."

****

Papyrus was already sitting up and trying swing his legs over the edge of the table.

****

"Boss that's not a good ide-" but the taller of the two had already tried to put weight onto his unsteady legs.

****

For a second it looked like he might actually have the strength to do it too. Papyrus stood tall and Sans was mentally chastising himself for giving Papyrus so little credit.

****

Then Papyrus tried to take a step and his legs crumpled under him and his tailbone hit the tile with a little  **tink** . Sans might have laughed if it was anyone else but years of conditioning had trained him to hold his tongue around his brother.

****

He even managed to keep a straight face when offering his bother some helpful advice. "Ya you might not want to move too much DT is a real son of a bitch. You are probably going to have some issues moving for a little bit"

****

Sans kneeled down next to Papyrus and continued, "Gaster's not here Undyne scared him off. We're gonna get you out of hear."

****

Papyrus just looked up at Sans expression unreadable. Then his eyes squinted and he asked a very important question.

****

"Where the fuck are my clothes."

****

* * * * *

****

Maybe it was because Papyrus was still a bit out of it or maybe it was the fact his lazy good for nothing brother was actually doing something for once. Whatever was the cause Papyrus was actually listening to his older brother.

****

Well sort of.

********  
  


Papyrus allowed Sans to help him into a sitting position against one wall as Sans explained the situation. Things had really gone to shit in the last 12 hours and Papyrus had to stifle a smile at the thought that without him everything would be chaos (Choosing to ignore the fact he was partly responsible for said chaos)

****

Papyrus let his brother give him a once over and smooth out a couple of bones that had been bent by the fall. After a few minutes Papyrus' soul even faded out of existence once more.

****

When that was over though he demanded that Sans give him his clothes.

****

They argued for a bit but even that seemed to tire Papyrus out so they finally settled on a compromise. Sans would find him his pants if he kept his shirt off. However any damage done to his legs because of this was due to Papyrus' own stubbornness and Sans would not be punished for any damage caused because of Papyrus' stupid decision.

****

Sans eventually found a bundle of clothes on the floor near an old decrepit desk. He even found Papyrus' cell phone on top of the desk too. It seemed that Gaster had forgotten it in his hurry to escape.

****

Sans threw Papyrus his pants and tried not to snicker at the usually capable skeleton struggling to put on a simple pair of pants.

****

Sans had a moment to think while his brother struggled. Papyrus was taking this like a champ. He would probably be unconscious at this point and wouldn’t regain it for another few hours.

****

Maybe it was his 1Hp or his naturally lazy demeanor but Sans had always been in so much pain after he woke up he could hardly move. The older of the two could feel only admiration for his younger brother. He was really amazing.

****

He was brought out of his thoughts as the distant sound of doors being kicked open. Sans was painfully familiar with the sound and could identify it almost immediately.

****

Seriously what did the royal guard have against doors?

****

Sans and Papyrus just sat there in silence and listened to the noises of destruction. There really wasn't much to say and the two were not really that talkative to begin with.

****

He could tell Papyrus hadn't asked all the questions he had wanted too earlier. Sans knew he was going to wait until he got his normal yelling voice back. Or maybe he just wanted Undyne there when he asked so there would be no need for repetition. God sans hoped he wasn’t planing one of his interrogations, Sans hatted those.

****

Sans was pulled out of his thoughts when a tall fish appeared at the door.

****

"Heya." Sans greeted her.

****

Undyne looked for Papyrus and found him sitting on the ground. It was honestly anyone's guess whether she was happy about this or not considering her serious scowl gave nothing away.

****

"How are you feeling?" Undyne asked his brother.

****

"Like shit." He replied with the same cold demeanor.

****

This is why Sans never had any desire to join the royal guard. Everyone who worked there seemed to have a permanent stick up their ass and that just wasn't his style at all.

****

"He still gonna need some time before we can move him." Sans put forth.

****

Papyrus looked like he wanted to argue, he didn't though. It was for the best. if Papyrus said he was ready and he wasn't Undyne would leave his ass behind. Papyrus was gullible not stupid. So he just mumbled something angrily under his breath.

****

"Ok you got fifteen minutes while I go make sure Gasters not hiding upstairs with that soul. If I am not back by then you to go back and get reinforcements from the king."

****

"Yes, Sir."Papyrus said from his sitting position completely unironically.

****

Sans couldn't help the smirk that flashed across his face. When Undyne’s angry eye found him all he could think to do was give her a little mocking salute. Somehow and thumbs up just didn't seem to fit the mood.

****

When Undyne's footsteps faded down the hallway sans started to move towards his brother with his shirt in one hand.

****  
"Well I guess we better get you ready to move out."  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously what do the royal guards have against doors? :D 
> 
> Anyways I have no idea whats going to happen next chapter!
> 
> So ya this is going to be fun!


	12. Getting out of the Core

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its time to get out of this hell hole

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys as you may or may not know I have been real busy lately. I am going to try and keep my promise of two chapters a week but I might have to do 1 chapter a week updates if things get to be too much. Anyways hope you enjoy this chapter!

When Undyne got back to the room containing Papyrus and his brother she made no comment on her discovery. Papyrus' had known Undyne for many years and could tell something was up. Sans on the other hand was itching to get this mess over with as soon as possible.

****

Sans eyes moved from his brother to Undyne. He wanted to get out of here but with Papyrus back he was hesitant to take charge of the situation. So he just stood there waiting for someone to say something. Fortunately he didn't have to wait long.

****

Undyne eyed her second in command wearily " Can you walk?"

****

Papyrus nodded and raised himself to his feet. The tall skeleton seemed a bit off balanced and as he took a hesitant step forward he stumbled a bit. Sans moved to give him a hand but Undyne was quicker.

****

She looped an arm around Papyrus waist helping to support his weight. Papyrus looked at her with an almost comically shocked look. Undyne scowled and said. "It be a pain to train another guardsman so don't fall behind asshole."

****

With Undyne's help the two managed to walk at a reasonable pace. However they were still slow enough the Sans was able to keep up without jogging. All three of them kept silent as they made their way to the exit.

****

Sans was starting to think that they were actualy make it out of this hell hole with no problems.

****

That was until they made it to the hallway that lead to the exit. Where a familiar black figure awaited them. Standing right in the middle of the narrow passage, crooked smile tilted up and a triumphant light in his eyes.

****

Of course they could go back. Snake their way through the building until they made it to one of the other exits. What if he was waiting for them their as well? Sans was running through plans in his head trying to figure out the best solution for the problem that faced them.

****

His thought process was brought to a halt when Gaster spoke.

****

"You have something that belongs to me." Even though his voice was hushed it echoed loudly in the silence.

****

Undyne let out a mocking laugh " Ya right! You are going to have to pry papyrus from my cold DEAD HANDS!"

****

Gaster looked somewhat confused at that declaration. "Fine, them keep him. I'll just take that little traitor behind you."

****

The two guards turned to look at the small skeleton behind them both looked confused.

****

Sans eyes went dark. oh.... so  _ that's _ what this was about.

****

He should have known, Gaster had never even really  _ met _ Papyrus. It made sense the only reason Gaster would put Papyrus in danger is to get Sans to do something. That's how it’s always been that's how it always would be. He should have been prepared for this but Sans could still feel the small kernel of radge deep in his soul.

****

"Y-you guys g-go on ahead. I'll c-catch up." Sans managed head lowered feet shuffling nervously.

****

Undyne just gave an exasperated shigh and tugged Papyrus away from Gaster towards one of the other exits. "FINE! Come on Papyrus we are leaving."

****

His unsteady feet were trying to find traction on the tiled floor but Undyne was basically dragging Papyrus at this point. "Wait! hoLD ON A SEC-"

****

"No!" Undyne said no missing a beat "I came here to get you! I couldn't give a damn about that little piece of shit you call a brother!"

****

Sans watched as Undyne dragged his brother away while he was still trying to put up some resistance. Sans might have laughed if he wasn't so relived. At least Papyrus was safe and who knew maybe soon he wouldn't even have to put up with an annoying good for nothing brother.

****

Waiting until he couldn't hear the sounds of their argument anymore Sans took the opportunity to turn and face the good doctor again.

****

It had been awhile, a long while, since Sans had seen his old mentor. Boy had those years been harsh on the doc. Gaster's blobish appearance was testament to that. It looked like he was barely holding himself together his black viscous body constantly shifting and moving.

****

"Sooooo... are we just gonna stand here or do you wanna-"

****

"I want my tools back." Gaster said cutting Sans off.

****

"Oh... ya well that’s not going to happen. They were both of ours and when you "Died" they became mine."

****

"You mean when you killed me, you murderer."

****

"Well I mean ya if you want to get into specifics." Sans waved his hand dismissively " But come on it's not like you never killed before or most other monsters actually."

****

Gaster let out an animalistic growl warped with static. "Give them  _ back _ ." His body started to shift more frantically and the two misshapen eyes filled with purple light. "They are mine!"

****

"Fine" Sans said bracing himself for a fight. He only had delay Gaster for a few more minutes. Just enough so he knew that his two companions had gotten out ok. "You want them so bad.." Sans eye socket lit up with flickering red magic and with a wave of his hand two familiar animalistic skulls buzzed into existence next to him.

****

"Come and get 'em."

****

* * * * *

****

There was the briefest of moments where the two competitors stood still. Each waiting for the other to make the first move. Red and purple magic filled the air and occasionally cracked like electricity.

****

It was hard to say what triggered it, maybe a twitch of a hand or a shift in weight, whatever  the cause both side swung into action within seconds of each other. The doctor was surprisingly fast for someone with no legs to speak of. He moved with a speed and poupos that was almost animalistic in intent.

****

At the same time Sans lifted his right hand and tried to cast some binding gravity magic on Gasters soul. The doctor seemed to stutter a moment, His form melting in on itself before he almost skipped like a record and was once again moving forward without having lost any momentum.

****

Sans mind was working to quickly to be stunned by this. Survival came first he could think later. His binding magic was a no go apparently and the hallway was to narrow to dodge out of the way of his opponent. If he couldn't move horizontally then he would just have to move in the vertical.

****

The hallway was narrow but it's ceiling was high above the both of them. So thinking quickly Sans grabbed onto the jaw of one of his blasters, moments later him and his two weapons were suspended high above the ground. The small passenger held on for dear life as his feet dangled above his old mentor who was desperately scratching at the walls in an attempt to reach the hovering monster.

****

" Give them back give them back giVE THEMBACKGIVETHEMBACK" Gasters yells tuned into shrill static cries as he desperately tried to get at the skulls.

****

Sans took this moment to swing himself up on top of one of the heads so his hands were no longer digging into the skulls sharp teeth. Now with a steady perch Sans focused his magic. With a crackle of red energy and another flick of his wrist a number of bones shot up through the floor at Gaster's feet.

****

To Sans displeasure and shock the bones that were supposed to impale the monster below him only seemed to faze through him causing no damage whatsoever. Although Gaster let out a yell of rage his HP hadn't gone down at all.

****

The small monster tried again and again but with the same results. Somehow his body was so unstable it managed to move out of the bones way like water making gaster look like swiss cheese before the holes once again filled in with black goo.

****

When both of the monster realized this was going nowhere a calm fell over the battlefield.

****

When Gasters breathing evened out and his form seemed to settle a bit his eyes devoid of purple magic looked up and Sans who was still perched above him magic still at the ready just in case he had to defend himself.

****

"It appears we are at a stalemate." He said in his rational cold voice.

****

"Really?" Sans asked smile on his face "from up here it looks as if you're the loser."

****

Gasters form seemed to flicker before settling once more. "Well not quite, we both know your magic is very week. I am sure you are tired. If you come back down and return my pets I promise I will not hurt your brother."

****

Sans raised the bone above his eye in a questioning manner. "and what about me?"

****

"Well you will have to be punished of course as well as that meddler Alphys. However I will make sure your brother does not lose his position or get injured in anyway." Gaster said this as if it was the most generous offer ever given and maybe to him it was.

****

Sans had seen through his bullshit years ago though when he had decided to dust the doctor and now all Sans could muster was a tired sigh. "Nah I'm good."

****

Once again Gasters shaped started to move as if unsettled "You will not get another offer like this. If you do not accept I will kill you, your brother, Alphys, and anyone else that wants to get in my way!"

****

Looking down at the agitated monster below him Sans couldn't help but let a huge grin spread across his features. "I don't know about that doc but you are right about one thing." He let out an exaggerated yawn "I am getting kinda tired. This talk's been fun but I'm gonna have to head out."

****

Keeping eye contact with the doctor as he waved his hands and both the blasters disappeared. In the moment of suspension before gravity kicked in he could see the doctor's wide shocked eyes that quickly turned to anger as he realized what was happening.

****

"SANS!?"

****

But he was already gone. 


	13. Short update

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the lack of updates. I am moving and that is taking up a lot of my time! I am still working on this though!!! This is a lot shorter and unpolished than i usually post but I will not have time to work in this upcoming week and I figure a short update is better then no update at all!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!!! @3@
> 
> (EDIT: I have lowered the rating from mature to teen and up. I have been thinking about this for awhile and originally there was going to be a lot more violence in this story hence the mature rating but none of that panned out. I can't keep it mature for foul language so ya enjoy the new teen rating! Until I inevitably change it back to mature when I add some mutilation or some junk lol!)

Maybe that teleport had been a mistake.

 

The last time he had eaten was that junk food at Al's place, not exactly nourishing. He had only managed a light dose since he got up that afternoon. Everything was going to shit and he had been using his magic way to much.

 

Adrenalin had masked his low reserves in the heat of battle. It was hard to ignore his almost completely depleted reserves that now pledged him.

 

As the darkness of the in between, or so he called it, surrounded him Sans tried to think.

 

It had been awhile since he had been in the place between teleports for any meaningful amount of time. Where time and space didn't matter or exist. In the past he had only lingered here a few times out of curiosity. This was very different though.

 

This was bad, he needed to get out but honestly he was struggling to stay awake. This was NOT the time to take a nap! He needed OUT! There was no way he was going to die here after EVERYTHING that had just survived!

 

Sans closed his eye sockets tightly against the unforgiving black.

 

Something other than magic started to fill his bones. It hurt but in another way it was invigorating. He focused on what he wanted.

 

Somewhere far away Sans felt his limp body connect with something solid.

 

His eye sockets were still closed but the painful itching sensation that had spurred him on only moments ago was ebbing away leaving Sans feeling empty and tired. He knew he was somewhere, which was instantly better than nowhere, but he couldn't move.

 

That was ok he would just sleep this off. A faraway part of his mind told him that sleeping was a bad idea. He had to move, what if a monster came by and just found him lying on the ground? He would be an easy kill and no one would pass up the opportunity but...

 

He was so tired, he couldn't find it in himself to worry too much. Sleeping just sounded way too good right now.

 

Just before he fell asleep though he wondered vaguely where in the underground he was.

 

* * * * *

  
  


Alphys wondered why she was the monster always stuck with all the shit work.

 

_ Alphys grab me some coffee _

 

_ Alphys figure out a more energy efficient light source _

 

_ Alphys fix the camera network _

 

Alphys this Alphys that it just never ended!

 

She never even had time for her pet projects anymore and it was frustrating. When she was first offered the job as royal scientist she thought it would be way more fun. She though all of her little projects would be funded, and some of them were, but mostly it was stupid stuff that she had no interest in.

 

Walking through the hallways of the royal castle in the early hours of the morning, on a weekend, carrying a stack of schematics for the core after her fourth cup of coffee really put her life in perspective. If an older wiser Alphys somehow made it back in time to talk to her younger self she doubted the young monster would believe this is what her future held.

 

It was stupid! It was demeaning! It was-

 

A loud clatter assaulted her ears, as if someone had dropped a bunch of office supplies or something on the hard floor. It had come from an off shooting branch she had just passed and the sound echoed loudly in the silence of the building.

 

_ What the fuck was that? _ Alphys thought freezing in place as her claws tightened on the pile of paperwork she was holding.

 

_ Probably just the wind _ she tried to tell herself even though they were in the heart of the castle with no windows in sight.

 

After standing stock still for what felt like an eternity Alphys finally made a move to leave. However once her claws clicked on the tiles a weak moan came from the direction of the disturbance.

 

_ Fucking hell _

 

The royal scientist was torn between curiosity and negligence. Although ignoring the situation would be so easy her natural curiosity egged her on. Sometimes if she found a monster on the verge of falling down Alphys would use them for tests and experiments before they completely turned to dust and became useless. She had found some of her favorite specimens this way and even though she was needed elsewhere the thought of getting some more testing material was to tempting to resist.

 

Alphys gently put her papers to the side and backtracked to where she had heard the noise.At fist all she saw when she peeked her head around the corner was what appeared to be a pile of black and red fabric that seamed faintly familiar. Thinking the monster was already dust she turned around.

 

Before she could leave though a pained noise sounded from behind her with an accompanying sound of soft scraping. Looking once more and seeing a slight movement Alphys got closer...

 

Only to let out an exasperated sigh as she recognized the monster lying on the ground in front of her.

 

"Really Sans?"

 

The only response was a slight twitch of his fingers.

 

"I already have enough shit on my plate I am not dealing with this!"

 

Sans looked like he was in really bad shape but she had too much to do already without adding passed out monster to her pile!

 

This was ridiculous!

 

Staring at the monster on the floor in front of her with an angry expression that did absolutely nothing to solve her predicament Alphys finally caved.

 

"One day you're going to have to learn how to clean up your own messes." She said as she started to drag Sans unceremoniously back the way she had come. 

  
The small skeleton did not respond. 


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus and Undyne make it back to the castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all the support! I honestly didn't think anyone would read my story not to mention all the nice comments and feedback I have been getting! You guys really are the reason I keep writing and posting this, So i just want to take the time to let you know how much I appreciate every comment, kuddo, and constructive criticism. 
> 
> You guys really are the best. \\(@3@)/

It was a long tiresome trudge back to the royal palace. By the time the two shambling guardsmen finally made it back they were both exhausted. To anyone else Undyne would have seemed parched and angry. As her subordinate and long time sparring partner Papyrus could tell she was also deeply concerned and trying to hide it.

 

Still mad at his supervisor though he kept his mouth shut. Secretly Papyrus was hoping that she was feeling regret for leaving his brother behind to be experimented on or more likely killed. He knew his older brother was week as well as a little skittish and slow when it came to conflict.

 

Thinking of how that doctor could be torturing and hurting his brother sent an unpleasant emotion through his ribcage. Sans was HIS plaything and  the almost predatory possessiveness filled the skeleton with rage. How dare that bastard take something that was so clearly  _ his _ ? This slight could not be ignored! Sans was his brother. NO one was going to take him away from the mighty Papyrus! Sans-

 

Thoughts of his childhood tried to surface but Papyrus held them back.

 

This was not the time or place for this shit.

 

He needed to think of a cunning and clever plan to get his useless brother back! What would people say if they found out someone  _ else _ had killed  _ his _ brother? Papyrus would be a laughing stock, Other monsters would see him as week and try to fight him for his title.

 

Of course he would win but that  _ was not the point. _

 

Papyrus didn't want to deal with the hassle of defending his title and reasserting his dominance.

 

Papyrus was startled when he realized what part of the castle he was in. He had only been this close the the king's chamber once or twice before.

 

That is when Papyrus realised he had no idea what was actually happening.

 

He had assumed they had bolted for the castle because it was the closest safe zone where they could get some help. However you couldn't get close to the king in the middle of the night without express permission. That was unless you wanted to find yourself impaled on a particularly large kitchen utensil.

 

He was even more disturbed when Undyne and himself stood outside the large doors leading to the throne room. When Undyne reached out for the handle to let herself in a boney hand shot out and grabbed her wrist in a death grip. She seemed unfazed as Papyrus lowed his voice as low as he could, which wasn't very low at all, into what he hoped was a threatening whisper.

 

"Seriously what the fuck is going on here?"

 

Unfazed Undyne peeled his fingers from her wrist and without turning to look at him just said. "I'll explain later."

 

It was not what he wanted to hear but before he could complain she had let herself into the room and left him standing flabbergasted in the hallway.

 

He was only standing their for a a few moments before a yellow lizard he only had a passing knowledge of turned a corner holding a manila folder tightly in one claw. It seemed as if she was thinking very hard because she didn't even acknowledged his presence until she bumped into his legs.

 

"Oh I-I'm Sorry" she said when she saw who it was she had walked into. "Is Undyne here?" She asked with a bit more confidence.

 

It baffled Papyrus how civil Alphys was being. He had heard many stories from many sources and the only good ones had been from Undyne and even some of those had been a bit cringe worthy.

 

"YES INDEED!" Papyrus said at full volume "SHE IS IN THAT ROOM WITH THE KING I THINK?"

 

Alphys nodded as if this was to be expected and Papyrus found himself annoyed once again. when Alphys also made a move to get into the room Papyrus placed himself in front of her.

 

"I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE" Papyrus started in a tone that didn't invite argument "IF YOU WOULD KINDLY EXPLAIN WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON." He was desperately trying to sound polite knowing the doctor's reputation but this whole situation was starting to wear on his nerves something awful. He was exhausted, hurting, his brother was probably dust somewhere and now his chain was being jerked around all while he was in the dark.

 

He could piece a bit together but it was really hard to complete a puzzle with pieces missing.

 

Alphys just stood there stock still. She seemed deep in thought and when Papyrus let out a little cough to remind her he was there she jumped as if startled.

 

"Ugggg I don't have time for this" She complained rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Everything will be explained at the briefing! The longer you hold me up here the longer we all have to wait to get started!"

 

Papyrus was really thinking about using some force to get this apparently weak and harmless lizard girl to give him the information he wanted when Alphys spoke up out of her own.

 

"Listen, I know you and Undyne are close and that your Sans younger brother but if you keep getting in my way those two facts won't keep you off the operating table." A manic smile had creeped onto her face and although the glare on her glasses obscured her eyes Papyrus could feel the dark intent radiating off of her.

 

Papyrus' wit's were frazzled after a long day and that statement had stunned him long enough for Alphys to slip past unnoticed. All he could think was  _ why would be being sans brother stop her? _

 

He was about to ask when he noticed she had left Papyrus was filled with rage. Turning around quickly Papyrus punched the wall with all the power he could muster as he yelled "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!!!!"

 

Maybe putting a hole in the wall right where the king could just walk out and see it was a bad idea but Papyrus didn't care. When he pulled his fist back to reveal a cracked dent in the wall surface he just stomped his foot in frustration.

 

"IF SOMEONE DOESN'T EXPLAIN WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND HERE IN THE NEXT TWO SECON-"

 

There was a cough from behind the fuming skeleton and his attention was quickly drawn to the three monsters standing in the open doorway. Asgore in the front had a bemused smile on his face, Alphys was standing behind him to the left and was trying to stifle her giggles with a clawed hand, Undyne who was standing to his right had one of the widest toothiest grins on her face not even trying to hide her amusement.

 

Papyrus face immediately fell and he went into a stiff salute in front of the king.

 

The king just seemed mildly amused and the flustered guardsman and waved him off.

 

"At ease." Asgore said "If you would like to join us we are about to have a meeting in the war room. There we will discuss in greater detail the events that have taken place over the past day and a half."

  
Papyrus just nodded and fell into step behind Undyne as they made their way to a more appropriate location for group discussions of importance.  


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter revelations and back story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys 2 updates for TLB this week! (Maybe if I wright it down here it will actually get done) Seriously though I need to get back on the horse so to speak. 2 updates a week 2 updates a week 2 updates a week. 
> 
> Ok I think I am done rambling so enjoy the chapter!

 

The war room, as one may have guessed, was one of the most heavily used rooms in the whole palace. Papyrus had only been to the castle a handful of times but the times he had been invited he always found himself in this room.

 

It was not as large a space as the royal throne room but it still was quite impressive when it came to size. 50-60 monsters (depending on size) could fit into the room comfortably. There was a long wooden conference table. It was oval and the wood was well worn but clean. The walls were generally bare except for a couple of flags holding the royal seal, a projection screen rolled up, and a white board. It actually looked quite similar to a school room. The only real difference being the seating arrangement.

 

The four monsters made there way to the far end of the room so they could sit closest to the whiteboard.Asgore took the seat at the head of the table. Undyne sat on his right, Alphys took the left seat and Papyrus sat next to undyne.

 

There was an awkward silence as Alphys emptied the contents of her folder on the desk. A handful of papers. A couple of photographs and a Flash drive. The kind seemed to be going over something in his head and Undyne as well as Papyrus just sat there. The two were trying to look alert and responsive but in reality they were totally exhausted.

 

The two royal guardsmen were just enjoying their chairs and resting their tired feet and for Papyrus resting his tired e _ verything _ . He did notice the more he moved  the more his pain seemed to abade. Now that the it was bearable he noticed a slight itch in his bones but chose to ignore it. He would deal with that later.

 

Papyrus was pulled out of his restful daze when he heard Asgore say, rather loudly, "Well wake him up then." He did not sound happy in the slightest. Curious Papyrus turned his attention to what the king and his royal scientist were discussing.

 

"I C-can't just wake him up!" Alphys said badly flustered. "I-it doesn't work like that! He is suffering from magical exhaustion! It's a wonder he hasn't fallen d-down and you want me to just waltz in shake his shoulder and you think h-he'll just wake up?"

 

He looked at her with cold eyes "You are the royal scientist are you not?" The large imposing monster asked rhetorically. "Figure it out."

 

Alphys looked as if she wanted to argue but when she saw the look on the king's face she thought better of it. "As y-you wish." she finally said as she got up to leave the room.

 

When She had shut the door firmly behind her Asgore turned to his captain and vice captain of the royal guard. "Now I would like to hear your side of the story in  _ full _ detail."

 

Undyne looked to Papyrus and he took it as he que to start first.

 

* * * * *

 

Alphys stood in a dimly lit sick room holding a needle full of a clear shimmering liquid.

 

"Well this is either going to kill you or cure you." one of her signature manic grins appeared on her face. "Let find out which it's going to be shal we?"

 

* * * * *

 

Sans was comfortable that's how he knew it was a dream.

 

The small monster was lounging on the sofa as he heard his brothers heavy footsteps coming down the stairs.

 

If this was real he would have been jumping off the couch so he could try and play off his bout of laziness, inevitably getting a smack to the cranium anyways, but no somehow his dream self just lounged knowing everything was right with the world.

 

The heavy footfall slowed and he knew Papyrus had seen him. Not wanting to get up he just faked sleeping harder.

 

He felt a hand brush against the top of his cranium fondly and then the footfalls resumed heading towards the kitchen.

 

Ya this was most definitely a dream but what the hell? He was going to enjoy himself while he could.

 

He continued to doze as the sounds of his brothers  _ enthusiastic _ cooking attempts drifted into the living room.

 

Sans was too afraid to open his eyes, as if when he did everything would disappear, He felt himself drift once again and wondered idly what would happen if he fell asleep in a dream?

 

Well he was about to find out he thought as a light chuckle escaped him. The dream Papyrus must have heard the impossibly soft noise Sans had made because before the darkness took him again he heard his brothers remarkably loud voice yelling at him to get up because dinner was ready.

 

* * * * *

 

Sans came to again but this time it was a memory.

 

A memory from years ago.

 

He hadn't had this one in awhile.The thought idly played in the background as the younger Sans opened his eye sockets slowly.

 

One of his eye sockets was bandaged and out of his good eye socket he could see Papyrus age ten staring at him eye sockets dark and wide with fear but covering it up well otherwise.

 

Papyrus leaned forward in his chair "ARE YOU OK?"

 

Clearly Sans wasn't but the question had to be asked, it always had to be asked, It was part of the facade.

 

"Ya Squirt don't worry 'bout it." Sans slurred out. It must have been bad if the Doc gave him drugs.

 

Papyrus didn't believe him but just rolled his eye lights. He was more relaxed now that his brother was awake.

 

"SO WHAT HAPPENED THIS TIME?"

 

Sans struggled to think of a plausible excuse in his drug hazed mind. "I wasn't wearing my goggles and I got some crap in my eye socket."

 

God Papyrus must think he was a useless klutz by now. Well better he think him a klutz than a weapon or a victim.

 

Papyrus had a vaguely disappointed look on his face as if he had expected better of his older brother.

 

"BE MORE CAREFUL NEXT TIME." Child Papyrus said.

 

"I will bro, don't worry about it I-

 

* * * * *

 

"What the fuck!" He heard himself say before he was even really aware.

 

He had the impression of falling before he felt his body hit the floor. That didn't keep him down for long though the next time Sans looked down he found himself on his feet.

 

His was full of energy and felt like he was going to pass out all at the same time. "What the fuck!" Sans repeated more aware of his surroundings. He was in what looked like an infirmary.  Standing on the other side of the gurney he had fallen off of was his favorite mad scientist Alphys holding a more compact soul extractor in her left hand and a syringe in her right.

 

"Well you're not dead." She said.

 

"What the fuck?" Sans said for the third time but this time it was more of a question.

 

"The king wanted to talk to you" She said putting her equipment on a nearby countertop "He didn't want to wait so I had to figure a way to wake you up."

 

"Wake me up from what?" He asked faintly remembering his attempted teleport before everything went tits up.

 

"You were suffering from magical exhaustion. You were in a coma so I injected you with pure magic to counterbalance what you lost." She said without the hint of her usual stutter she was clearly excited but Sans himself was horrified.

 

"You what!?" He was starting to piece together why he was so fidgety and felt like he needed to run a marathon and sleep for a million years at the same time. "That's irresponsible! If you gave me too much you could have burnt out my magic! You could have dusted me! I could have been dead! What the fuck was going through your head? Oh my god i think I’m gonna pass out."

 

Sans stopped talking a mile a minute and wavered on his feet but Alphys was already there supporting him. She was keeping the skeleton on his feet by looping an arm under his armpits.

 

"No you don't!" She said "Y-y-you have an appointment with the king!"

 

"Do I have to?" Sans whined trying to will the room around him to stop spinning.

 

"Yes you do!" She said dragging him towards the door "You've already gotten me into enough shit today!"

 

"Uggggggggg" Sans groaned as he tried to get his legs working properly again 

 

“Do I _ have _ to?” He repeated like a five year old being asked to take his medicine. 

  
“Sans I swear to god…”  Alphys said threateningly as they made their way to the war room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So ya fist time writing dream sequences @~@


	16. Revelations part 1

It did not take long for Papyrus to tell his part of the story. There really wasn't much to say.

 

He told the truth of what had happened even if he was somewhat ashamed that he had fallen for such an obvious ruse. He was extremely tempted to embellish his account to make himself sound more brave or inventive but lying to the king and his superior officer was not a good idea.

 

Even if it was very tempting.

 

So he told them about the letter, about how he lied to his brother and went in his place. He told them about the injections and even told of the rescue from his perspective. Finally he ended with his brothers half assed attempt to distract the raving lunatic.

 

When he was done Undyne took up the torch telling what she knew. She told them about how she and Sans had gone into the core to rescue Papyrus and find the missing soul. ( _ Why had sans gone along _ Papyrus thought  _ Maybe the king was slipping in his old age? _ ) She told the king about finding Papyrus, finding something weird with the core, the final confrontation with Gaster and finally there uneventful trip back to the castle.

 

It was after Papyrus and Undyne had both finished talking. When Asgore was mulling over there words thoughtfully while occasionally look at some papers Alphys had left. When an angry voice could be heard right outside the door.

 

Through the thick walls and equally thick door all that could be heard was her tone. All of her words were reduced to eligible muffled nothings. The argument seemed to go for a bit, Alphys voice would raise in volume and then pause as if waiting for a response only to raise in volume once again.

 

In the pauses Papyrus thought he heard a familiar baritone voice speaking although he chalked that up to his imagination.

 

* * * * *

 

The walk to the war room from the medical wing , under normal circumstances, wouldn't have taken any time at all. However with a couple of stubby legged monsters coupled with the instability of one and the fed up exhaustion that plagued the other their pace was slow.

 

It also didn't help that Sans insisted on liberal breaks along the way.

 

It was on there 4th sitting break that Alphys spoke up.

 

"We are s-seriously never going to make it to the War room at this pace!"

 

Sans who was sprawled out on the floor with his eyes closed in relaxation merle cracked an eye socket and said "Never say never Al"

 

Alphys gave him a not so playful shove.

 

"I mean" Sans continued seemingly unfazed "We will reach it  _ eventually.  _ Logically if we keep moving forward in the direction of the place we are headed, even if it’s at a slow pace, we will get there."

 

He sat up and rubbed his legs in a soothing fashion. "It may take a few hours..."

 

"Or a few _ years _ !!"

 

"Exactly or a few years but we will get there."

 

Alphys just stood back up and glared at the skeleton who was still messing with his legs.

 

"We are g-going!"

 

"Fine" Sans said starting to rise of the floor.

 

"A-and we are not stopping until we reach our destination!"

 

Sans immediately went limp and crumpled back to the floor. "Sorry Al no deal."

 

"W-we are L-literly 20 feet a-away from the door!!!"

 

"That 20 feet to far for these poor bones" Sans was trying to sound pitiful but he only managed to sound like the smart ass he truly was inside.

 

"Cary me" He said raising his arms in a pleading gesture.

 

"No w-way do you really want to be seen by the k-king on someone else's back?"

 

As a response he just opened and closed his hands like a toddler wanting to be picked up.

 

"I am n-not carrying you fat ass into see t-t-t-the king!"

 

"Fat ass?" Sans would have laughed if he had the energy "I am literally skin and bones Al. Well.... minus the skin."

 

"Y-yes and somehow" Alphys grabbed Sans legs. unprepared for the sudden contact Sans yelped "You still managed to be a fat ass. It is a scientific anomaly really. I-i-if I could only figure out how you manage it I could be famous. I might even get a few awards."

 

"I would tell you" Sans said as he was dragged down the hallway on his back "But it’s a trade secret if I told you then I'd have to kill ya."

 

"Trade secret?" Alphys asked raising an eye.

 

"Ya trade secret motherfucker." Sans said crossing his arms and glaring. The effect however was slightly damped by the fact he was being dragged along the floor. His jacket and shirt were pulled up because of the friction exposing his bottom most ribs and spine. His shirt collar on the other hand had worked its way up covering his neck and mouth.

 

Alphys shook her head and dropped his legs once the two of them reached the door.

 

"Get up she said coldly.

 

"Sure no prob bob." Sans said getting up and staying on his feet. "So what does the King want to talk to me about? Science stuff? or does he want me to do more of his shit work?"

 

"P-probably both, but he really wanted to hear your side of the story." Alphys was cleaning her glasses "He'll probably want to hear a new truthful account of what happened in the labs. Once all four of us give our accounts-"

 

"Four?!" Because Alphys had her glasses still in her hand she couldn't see the way Sans had physically tensed up but she could still hear the tense note to his voice.

 

"Yes? Me ,you, Undyne, and your brother all have to give accounts to Asgore. Undyne and Papyrus are already inside. They probably already give their accounts they're just waiting on us."

 

"No" Sans said

 

"No, what do you mean?" Alphys asked voice rising in frustration.

 

"No way." Sans made an x shape in front of himself with his arms "I am not telling the king about the shit Gaster did to me. Not in front of Papyrus he doesn't need to hear that shit."

 

Alphys rubbed the bridge of her nose."You d-don't have a _ choice.  _ I know you're wired about the experiments you and Dr. Gaster worked on but this is a matter of  _ life and death!" _

 

"Nope, no way." Sans was shaking his head "You think Papyrus is an ass now? Imagine if he found out the shit I could do! He'd actually make me work 'n shit."

 

Alphys was getting fed up, well more fed up then she had been which that was an achievement in its own right, she pointed a clawed finger at the stubborn skeleton and said. "If you don't get your fat ass in that door I am throwing you in there m-myself."

 

That was the exact moment negotiations broke down.

 

Alphys grabbed Sans by the collar of his jacket and pushed him forwards towards the door. She had however underestimated Sans strength and even in his beat up state he was able to put up quite the resistance.

 

There was shouting and cursing, many old wounds were opened up but Sans was slowly but surely losing traction. He found himself closer to the door than he would have liked and pushed all his weight against the lizard woman.

 

Anticipating this move Alphys sidestepped and let Sans start to fall on his face. She used his momentum to sling him once again towards the door with amazing strength. He hit the door with a solid thump but to both of there surprize the door stood solid as ever.

 

With a large evil smile Sans started to move away from the door towards Alphys but she was of course one step ahead. Slamming her weight against sans he was pinned to the door. On any normal day he could have gotten away but being so exhausted and Alphys being so fresh made it more than impossible.

 

"You are going in there" She said in her most angry fed up evil voice.

 

"No 'm not" Sans replied in an equally fed up evil hollow sounding voice.

 

They both had manic empty smiles as the two struggled against the door.

 

The choice however was take out of their hands.

 

* * * * *

 

In the war room The three monster were waiting for Alphys and her guest to arrive. However when the angry muffled yells had turned into thumps against the door Asgore got fed up.

 

"Undyne." Asgore said in an authoritative manner and the fish guard understood.

 

With a nod she got up and walked over to the door. When she opened it  two small monsters tumbled into the room Alphys landing on top of Sans.

 

"Well what do we have here?" She said picking up both of them by the scruffs of there shirts.

 

"H-hey Undyne" Alphys waved weakly clearly uncomfortable with being held up.

 

Undyne gave the lizard a small peck on the cheek "Hey babe."

 

Sans scrunched up his face in disgust.

 

"And you." Undyne yelled turning to look at the monster in her other hand.

 

"I thought you were dead." she finished in a more reasonable tone.

 

"Y-y-yea I did t-too." Sans said going into his default defence mode. He felt like he was being confronted even though that was just how Undyne was.

 

The fish guard put the two back on the ground and mumbled "Well I see you're just as fucking cryptic as ever." 

  
Sans lowered his head and mumbled “sorry” 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See I knew I could do it! two updates this week! This was suppose to be a lot shorter but....
> 
> Every time a seen with alphys and sans comes into play I way over write them. I just love those two wayyyyyyyy tooooo muchhhhh. They are way to fun to wright. 
> 
> So yes hope you enjoy!


	17. Revilations part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alphys side of the story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the lateness for this chapter. I had it almost finished then I just forgot about it. Thank you snas.fan for reminding me in the comments. Honestly if its Thursday or Friday and I have not updated feel free to remind me. I get email notifications when there's a comment and I check my email almost everyday. 
> 
> Also if we get to 200 kudos on this work (we are super close) I will update a oneshot I wrote for this fic awhile back.

Papyrus was shocked to see his brother, seemingly fine, and standing in the doorway. Did his brother just get here? How did he get away from Gaster?

He wanted to get up walk over to Sans and demand the answers to his questions. Maybe even give the bastard a good shake. Alas he could not, the king himself was sitting in the room and he could not let his anger out. Papyrus had to settle for glaring daggers at Sans, in his mind telling him not to embarrass him in front of the  _ king _ .

* * * * *

Sans could almost feel his brother willing his older sibling to not embarrass him.

One might call it brotherly intuition but Sans just called it  _ Papyrus being super fucking obvious _ .

Like seriously!

Sans was placed sitting next to Alphys, which meant he was across the table from Papyrus. He was trying to keep his head down but when his eyes would rise from the table he would see Papyrus glaring at him. If Papyrus caught his eyes his frown would deepen. If no one was looking he would drag his index finger across his neck and point to Sans.

Alphys was preparing to give her statement first. In the wait Papyrus managed to get in three deadly glares and one death gesture. Sans could tell his brother was trying to find a place to sneak in another probably equally stupid gesture of his anger when Alphys finally began to speak and all eye turned to her.

"So the king had asked me to tell you my side of the story to hopfull shed some light on the situation. This might take a bit so get comfortable." She started look rather exhausted herself.

* * * * *

Alphys was sitting at her desk when she heard the door of her office open. Well it wasn't just  _ her _ office. She shared it with the Gasters other assitant. The space was split cleanly in two.

Actually cleanly probably wasn't the best word to describe their space. Papers littered every available table top. Empty open food containers were sat next to the overflowing trash can.

They had been on a three day work binge only taking breaks in order to catch naps in the gurney they had pulled in and pushed into the corner closest to Sans desk.

The two monsters would have been done with work yesterday if Gaster hadn't claimed the math was wrong. He was also saying the blueprints needed to be redrawn and the machine made smaller.

Her co worker, who was the one who had opened the door, was standing there shaking his head and throwing the bundle of papers onto the growing trash pile.

"Oh my GOD!" Alphys said planting her face firmly onto a strey pile of papers.

"Yup" Sans said walking down the clean path to his desk.

"I swear to good I'm going to kill that asshole." Alphys mumbled into her paper pellow.

Sans laughed "Ok just call me up when you do. I wanna help."

It was not a week later that the incident occurred.

Sans stumbled into the their shared office once again looking like shit. Alphys hadn't expected to see him for another couple of days. He was recovering from a round of particularly heavy dosed determination injections and shouldn't even be back in the labs for another three days.

"Al I fucked up." Sans said eye lights dark sweat beading on his skull.

Normally Alphys would make some kind of smart aleck remark but there was something in the way he stood the way he was looking down the hall nervously that put her on high alert all at once.

"What happened?" she asked rising from her desk.

All he kept repeating was _ I fucked up I fucked up I fucked up. _

Alphys rushed, as fast as she dared, through the messy office and over to Sans. He was just babbling incoherently to himself and shaking. He was in shock. Before attempting to get a story out of him she did the obligatory once over to asses the damages.

The first thing she noted was that Sans normally squared teeth were now sharp triangles. She was wondering if he had filled them down or not when her eyes wandered down to his left arm.

Their was shards of bone protruding from the fabric of his torn lab coat. Alphys needed to look at the arm. Getting Sans to actually take off his coat was a struggle. It was like he didn't realize he was injured. He struggled against Alphys until she was finally able to remove the coat and was able to get a better look at his arm.

It was in really bad shape.

His humorous had a nasty break near the shoulder joint. On any monster with skin it would have been a compound fracture. Bone was splintered and frayed in a way that turned her stomach. She wondered idly if she could still consider it compound if their was no skin to break through.

Further down He had three hairline fractures on his ulna, two more on his radius. On his hand three of his metacarpals were flat out broken.

Remarcably his other arm was just fine. From what she could see of his legs they were chipped and the bone was bruised but otherwise fine.

It was clear she needed to get Sans to a clinic fast but first she needed a story. If this was Gasters work, which come on of course it was, they needed to come up with a cover story as to how he got hurt. It wasn't like this was the first time something like this had happened. Getting Sans out of his panicked daze was the first step. He needed to be in his right mind if they were going to make any progress.

"Sans." Alphys said in a stern voice.

She got no response.

" _ Sans _ ." She tried again with more emphasis.

His head move until she thought he was looking at her, it was really hard to tell with no pupils.

"What happened?"

All the greeted her was a mess of  _ Oh Gods _ and  _ Fucks _ .

She couldn't understand why he was so freaked out. He had has worse than this, his ribs alone were a testament to that, why was he freaking out so bad. She was about to start yelling at him in frustration, until she heard something that chilled her.

"I killed him, oh god I killed him."

_ Him? _

"Who did you kill Sans?" Alphys asked after a moment of shock.

The skeleton just shook his head vigorously still not all there.

"Sans _ who did you kill _ ?"

A small whisper was the only response she got but it was enough. "Gaster."

* * * * *

While Sans calmed down Alphys came up with a plan. If everything went well Sans wouldn't be prosecuted and she could maybe get a bit of a promotion out of the deal as well.

It was an accident.

Gaster had  _ fallen  _ into the core.

The guard rail had been faulty. No one's fault, shit like that happens all the time.

So when the shock had worn off and Sans was capable of thought again she explained her plan. Sans helped her work out some of the finer details. As far as his injuries Gaster hadn't shown up for an experiment. Everyone knew how much of a clutz Sans was. He was constantly getting hurt on the job.

So in the end Alphys had gone to trigger the explosion that caused Sans broken bones and the preceding power outages that  _ happened _ to wipe the security footage from the past twenty four hours or so.

Sans went to dispose of the dust and destroy a guard rail.

**Alphys never asked what had caused Sans breaks and he never spoke of it. Probably just another failed experiment. **


	18. revilations part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its technically still monday. Now excuse me as I pass out.

Sans closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Faintly he could hear Alphys continue on with her story in the background but he had tuned most of that out. All this talk of the past was bringing up unpleasant memories. Of his life before Gasters "death" and the time right after.

He was going to have to talk about some things. He was going to have to tell these monsters about what had happened to Sans to make him dust Dr. Gaster. Did he trust them? No. He didn't not in the slightest. But he knew his brother, how much he needed his reputation, and if the other monsters were like him in the slightest this matter would be covered up.

Papyrus was probably going to kill Sans himself after all this was over anyways. Papyrus had accepted a lot of Sans failures with a slap or a broken bone. This was more than just  night at Grillby though. This was a lifetime of weakness Sans had hidden. Hell now everything was out in the open Sans was sure Papyrus would hate him more than ever. Sans had lied so much to him. How could Papyrus ever trust him again?

With a defeated air Sans prepared himself. This was it, his final will and testament. He would tell the truth and hold nothing back. After years of secrets the thought of everything being laid bare was almost a relief.

* * * * *

Gaster had been working himself and Alphys to the point of exhaustion So when the time came for Sans DT treatment he was almost happy. After a treatment he was a little out of it so he would get a day or two to recover. Basically a mini vacation of sorts.

Sans was ready for his time off but took a moment to consider his happiness when he saw how much DT Gaster was prepping.

"Uhhhh Doc?" Sans said trying to cover his frear.

"Yes Dr. Sans?' He replied.

"That's a lot of IT you got there."

Gaster looked surprised but then shook his head as if remembering something.

"Oh yes Sans this is a momentous occasion. I can not belive I have forgotten to inform you but this will be your last Determination infusion."

Sans was shocked they had been at this for a few years now. The thought of it all coming to an end so suddenly was surreal. 

"R-realy?"

"Oh yes, after this we can move on to phase two."

The excitement Sans felt at those words almost made the next four hours bearable.

< The Next evening >

Sans was not happy to be called back into the office so soon after a treatment. It was however a necessity Gaster claimed. So here he was sore angry nervous and excited.

Gaster had only explained in passing what stage two would entail. However Sans knew it was when the physical enhancements would begin. Other then that Gaster had been very coy.

Gaster was preparing a syringe with a green substance in it. The lack of IV equipment and the addition of restraints had Sans concerned but he ignored it for the time being in favor of asking questions.

"So how is this going to play out?"

It was a tradition for Sans to get a play by play of Gasters methods to calm him and also train him. Gaster however was being really quiet.

"Well" Gaster began slowly "Now that you have a significant amount of DT in your system We will be moving onto the next stage." He held of the syringe. "Usually when we administer DT we have to do it slowly so your body can build a tolerance, It has taken us sometime to get enough DT into your system-"

Sans chuckled under his breath "Ya you could say that.'

Gaster didn't even seem to notice as he spoke on without stopping.

"Lucily for us Once Determination is introduced into the system it doesn't really leave so we have been able to give you a large amount over time. This however." Gaster gestured to the green substance. "Will be administered all at once. One single injection. It will trigger a change in your body that the DT will help you survive."

"Survive?!" Sans said in a panic.

"Calm down." Gaster said pulling Sans soul into his hands. "I've one this before. You should survive the process just fine. It won't be painful I promise."

That pacified Sans for a moment he calmed and let Gaster push the tip of the needle into his soul. Before he could register the prick A warmth filled his body radiating out from his core. It didn't feel bad if anything it felt good. He was slowly going numb and it was so much better then the pain. 

Before the slow moving warmth could reach his fingers and toes his mind caught onto something gaster had said.

"What do you mean you've done this before?" Dr. Gaster said this was new territory a monster weapon strong enough to break the barrier! Something was wrong. Something was seriously wrong!

Gaster smiled down at his little assistant. "Well maybe I wasn't quite forward with you."

The warmth had reached the tips of his fingers. He was immobile. "What do you mean!" Sans slurred out. The fact that he sounded drunk shocked him. He couldn't really move his head and the fear his voice would go soon was so raw it hurt.

Gaster move so he was standing next to his assistant head. "Well you will be a weapon just not one designed to break the barrier."

At this point even Sans emotions were beginning to numb. The fear that was eating him up not two seconds ago was now nothing more than a mild apprehension. Sans eyelights were becoming large and unfocused.  Gaster took note of this ad his smile grew even larger almost splitting his face.

"Since you have been a such a good little assistant and lab rat do you want a preview?"

The only response Sans could give was a slow blink.

Gaster snapped his fingers and a large beastly skull appeared next to Sans bed. "Lovely isn't it?" Gaster said patting the skull fondly. “Her name was Arial and my first successful attempt" he snapped his fingers again a slightly bigger skull spread. "This is Lydian"  ***Snap*** "Serifa"  ***Snap*** "Tristan."   ***Snap*** "And of course Tub Or at least that's what he went by. Never did catch his full name." 

Now there were five Skulls floating in the room. Even though Sans couldn't turn his head and he could only summon a mild concern he noted how the skulls seamed... Vacant. Like they were truly just tools. No personality, no differences, (except for minor size variations)  just another object.

As Sans mind wandered and the drug took more and more of who he was away Gaster kept talking.

"The first experiment I did was on a monster with flesh. That turned out to be quite messy. Not to mention unsuccessful. So I moved on to skeletons. Much better results. However it was rather hard to get ahold of them because they are so rare. You were the first skeleton I actually allowed to work for me. You are quite intelligent. I could have maybe gotten a few more years of use out of you but I would really rather have the fire power."

Sans had closed his eye sockets. Nothing mattered anymore, sleep was just so tempting. Gaster was right next to him head when the next thing that came out of his mouth startled Sans out of his complacent daze.

"and I am very eager to get started on your brother."

No! Gaster wasn't about to do anything to Papyrus! They had a deal!

Sans eyes sockets fluttered open and Sans Saw Gaster move one of his limp arms into the strap and secure it.

No No No NO NO NO!

Even through the numbing drug he found a small shred of protectiveness and clung to it like a lifeline.

Gaster was NOT going to hurt his brother! Sans had to GET OUT! He has too-

A loud crack filled the room. He could feel a weird pressure from the top of his nasal opening to the top of his head.

"This is always my favorite part." Gaster mumbled to  himself.

Sans could feel a pressure in his jaw where his teeth rested.

Nothing hurt but he felt wrong!

With all of his will power Sans managed to raise his hand through the numbness and inspect his own face. He could feel the pressure of his fingers thoughing his cheek but that was it! His hand was still too numb to feel anything!

Gaster was working on scraping his feet down and took no notice of his subject.

This WAS not happening! He NEEDED to KNOW what was going ON!  Sans starting rubbing his face willing feeling to return to any part of his body. It was strange feeling things he know should hurt as only a slight pressure. The cracking of his bones was still very prominent and now some of the cracks were coming from his lower body.

He had to do this... for Papyrus.

Slowly he realized as his fingers caressed bone there was a tingle in the tips of his fingers. It almost burned and Sans welcomed the itching burn. Slowly the numbness was fading from his bones starting at his fingers and working back towards his body. It was being replaced with a burning itching sensation he was only faintly familiar with.

But that wasn't important. What was important is he could feel what he could only assume was a crack running from the top of his nasal opening up to the top of his head. His teeth were also now sharp and pointy. Like a shark or wolf monsters.

He was changing.

It was as if a switch has been flipped and he started to struggle violently against his restraints.

"Stop!" Gaster said panicked. It was clear that this had never happened before. It was the first time Sans heard anything resembling panic from the Doctor.

Sans struggles only intensified as he heard more rapid cracking and a hand grabbed his last remaining free appendage. As feeling returned his body felt strange and foreign. Something was wrong with his feet, There was something protruding from his lower back and his hands were slowly becoming clawed.

As Sans gained more feeling the cracks started to slow down and then stop.

Gater was still trying to hold Sans arm down but Sans was GOING to get out of here! Fuck the Doctor! He could burn In HELL! He was not TOUCHING Papyrus!

"Sans! Stop! your arm!"

Gaster was naturally stronger than Sans but somehow the little guy was thrashing so much in a blind panic trying to get free that his arm was starting to crack from the stress.

"Let me GO!" Sans yelled and suddenly he was standing on unfamiliar feet behind the Royal scientist. It was strange as if he had just wanted to get away badly enough and the universe had complied.

If Gaster wasn't panicked before he certainly was now.

Spinning around Gaster started pumping magic into the weapons that were still present in the room.

Sans let out a low growl and crouched low to the ground but something was off. Something other than his now unfamiliar body. He realized he could feel the same magic that was in him thrumming through the monstrous skulls. He could feel them and it was strange.

Sans gave an experimental tug with this new magic and one of the skulls stopped building magic in its mouth. He gave a larger tug and could feel all of the skulls stop. He gave one final push and all the skulls disappeared into thin air with a faint pop.

Gaster just stood there snapping his fingers like he was auditioning for a school musical.

Sans could feel his new weapons and it scared him. If they had been monsters in the past there was no proof of it. They were only empty shells now. Waiting for the opportunity to serve their master.

And Gaster was going to do that to Papyrus.

Sans waved his hand and summoned his new blaster in a radge. Gaster wasn't going to hurt him or his baby brother anymore!

The last thing he heard was the whine of firing blasters then he passed out.

Sans had woke up god knows how long later with a splitting headache. A quick check verified he was back to normal mostly. Well everything except his teeth.

**Across from him sat a pile of dust on the floor. **


	19. Calm before the storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I sound like a broken record but really thank you for all the support! We reached over 200 kudos!! As promised I uploaded a one shot that was co-authored by my sister. It was a lot of fun write with her and I was never going to post it, I have a bunch of stuff like that. But I figured because you guys are so wonderful I would post it anyways. 
> 
> Also I would just like to remind you guys that I love comments, critiques, speculation. This fanfic is made up on a week by week basis. I have main plot points written down but a lot of the in-between is made up on the spot. Reading the comments is a real source of inspiration for me!
> 
> Ok so without further ado here is the chapter! Hope you enjoy!

"Well." Asgore said after everyone's story was done. "I have much to look over." The king gestured to the table strewn with papers and other objects.  "you all have had quite the day."

It was true every single monster in the room, aside from the king, was struggling to stay awake. Undyne and Papyrus were hiding it well. Long hours of training had taught them to be alert even after the point of exhaustion. The two smaller monsters on the other hand had no such training. Alphys was lightly dozing head propped in one hand. Sans was quietly snoring with his head lying on his folded arms.

"I'll take mine if you get yours." Undyne said.

Papyrus just nodded.

The Fishmonster gathered up her little yellow charge with a fond smile on her face. Papyrus gathered up his brother no less gently but the expression on his face was unreadable.

The king met them at the door. "I do not have a good feeling about this." He said quietly as to not wake the sleeping monsters.

Undyne and Papyrus shared a knowing look.

"I am looking over the information provided. However I fear the five of us will not be enough to handle this. I think we will need a couple of monsters as back up." Undyne nodded and Papyrus gave a gruff "YES SIR."

"I will let you two decide who those monsters are. They must be able to keep a secret, because I do  _ not  _ want this getting out. I don't care if they are the most powerful ether what is important on this mission is to be able to work on a team."

That really did narrow down their options quite a bit.

With that instruction given Asgore pointed down the hall. "you may use the infirmary to rest each room has a single cot but the rooms are large enough to fit two comfortably three uncomfortably."

And with that final tidbit of information he shut the door of the war room on them and left the two guardsmen. Undyne quickly started making her was to the infirmary and Papyrus who was not familiar with the building followed her lead.

There was no talk until they reached their destination.

"I know a couple of monsters I think would be perfect for this mission," Undyne stated.

"AS DO I"

"Cool you give your guys a call and i'll give mine a call as well."

Papyrus nodded.

Undyne shifted her burden and planted a firm hand on Papyrus' shoulder.

"Listen I know this is a lot to take in, about your bro and everything, you are probably mad. I know I would be. Just try not to dust him until this mess is over. The king might get mad if you did that and I don't want to have to train a new second in command after all the shit I went through getting you back."

She gave a final firm pat and pulled her hand away completely. "Or at least that's what I'd do. You can do whatever the fuck you want with him he's your brother."

And with that Undyne walked into the room and shut the door.

Papyrus was left alone in the hallway.

* * * * *

The tall skeleton monster has picked the last infirmary room and set Sans down on the cot. He then grabbed a cot from on of the other rooms and pulled it in to lay on.

As he stared at the ceiling all he could think was  _ WHAT A FUCKING MESS. _

The burning itching sensation that had kept him going was now gone. Now every one of his bones was filled with a dull ache. Some of the bones that had been bent out of shaped while soft and hastily fixed were now screaming in pain. There were a few spots on his legs that were probably permanently dented. MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE LET SANS....

That train of thought was no good either. That just lead him back to his brother. The brother who had apparently been lying to him for years. Undyne thought Papyrus would want to dust Sans and maybe he would. In a few hours, after some sleep. Right now all he felt was numb. Everything felt aureal. Too much had happened in a short span of time. He had felt this way before. After a particularly hard or intense mission. He knew that after some rest his emotions would come back full force. Right now though Papyrus tried not to think of anything.

Even though he was unaware of it after a few minutes he had succeeded in falling asleep. His loud snores accompanied his brothers more quiet ones.

* * * * * *

The skeleton brothers slept peacefully for four hours. When one of them finally stirred it wasn't Papyrus and it wasn't willingly.

Sans was awakened by a small familiar claw covering his mouth as the other small familiar claw jabbed his arm.

At first in the midst of his sleep induced haze he struggled but when he saw his friend Sans stopped.

Alphys slowly removed her hand from Sans mouth and quietly lead him out of the room.

When they were both safely outside Alphys whisperd. "I need your help."

"And I need more sleep."

"This is seriously life or death."

"My life? or life as in the general sense."

"Just come on" Alphys said once again half dragging Sans down the hallway. It was alarming how much of their friendship was based on Alphys dragging Sans around but they both took it in stride.

When they reached the war room again Asgore was gone. The projection screen was pulled down and a round blurry image was on it.

"What the fuck is that?" Sans asked as he tried to rub the remaining sleep out of his eye sockets.

"Weren't you paying attention to the briefing?"

Sans just shrugged and moved his hand in the so-so gesture.

"That." she said pointing to the screen "Is the core."

The image was exstreamly fuzzy but the black strpis that streaked through the bright object were still painfully clear.

"Well shit." Sans said unsure of what else could be said.

"Yes." Alphys replied feeling something similar.

"Uhhhhhhh How am I supposed to help with  _ that _ ?"

"I need you to tell us how much time we have before whatever is going to happen happens."

"I mean I'd love to try but can't really do much with one photo."

Alphys handed Sans two more photos.

"This" she said pointing to the first photo in the best condition. "Is the last photograph of the core taken before the black stuff started showing up. This one" She said flipping to the next one which was more fuzzy but still visible. "Is the last photograph taken before the cameras cut out."

Sans gave the two photographs a more thorough look. The first one had a time stamp and the core looked normal. The second one also had a timestamp but was considerably more degraded. Even with the degradation you could still see the black clearly. The one Undyne took was in the worst shape but he could probably come up with a loose timeline if...

"You got a time on that one?" He asked.

"Yes I do." Alphys said scribbling a time onto a scrap of paper.

He looked at the paper and said. "Ok I can work with this. With this much info it will be and approximate time at best..."

"It’s better than nothing." She replied testily.

"And what, may I ask, will you be doing?"

Alphys returned to a random seat at the table. "I will be figuring out what that is and how to fix it."

“Well” sans said joining her “I guess we got our work cut out for us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Back up! Who is on Papyrus' and Undyne's shortlist? Take a guess in the comments! I want to see how many of you get it right! Lets see obvious I am being! XD


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans dose what he is best at, dodging.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooo! Chapter 20! We did it guys! 
> 
> Papyrus and Undyne's back up next chapter.

It didn't take long for Sans to work out an approximate time-table. It was simple stuff, just basic graphing really. That being said it would have gone faster if Alphys had given him a _ laptop _ to work on. Instead Alphys had given him a calculator and a dry erase marker.

"What the fuck am I supposed to do with these?"

"Math?" Alphys said

"Well, ya I could guess that much, Why don't I get a laptop?"

Alphys scowled. "Because you didn't bring one from home." She stuck her tongue out. "Besides this is like high school level math."

It was true, he could be done with this in less than an hour. However if he had a laptop he could play solitaire or something while looking busy. Old habits died hard.

"Come on Al You're saying that they don't have a single spare computer in the whole place? The walls are literally made of marble. The kings throne room had more gold in it then I could spend in a year and you are telling me we can't get our hands on a spare laptop?!"

"Stop your whining and get your ass in gear. I have to do the hard work here!"

It was true Al was doing all the hard work she was just having him do the grunt work so she could focus on the hard stuff.

Sans only gave a half hearted "It not even a  _ scientific calculator _ ." Before he begrudgingly popped the cap off his marker headed towards the whiteboard.

* * * * *

Papyrus woke up about an hour and a half after Sans.

There was no moment of confusion upon waking for the younger of the two. One moment he was asleep the next moment he was awake and alert. It only took him a few seconds to remember where he was and how he got here.

That being said he immediately noticed Sans absence. It was weird that Sans had gotten up before Papyrus. It was very unusual for him. Wait it was unusual, Right?

Well to be fair Papyrus didn't know  _ what _ was usual and unusual for his brother anymore.

Where the hell was he anyways? Did he just leave and head home? That would be very  _ Sans.  _ Or would it?

All of this indecision was making Papyrus mad. (Maybe mad wasn't strong enough, let's just say he was feeling enraged.)

* * * * * *

Sans had been dozing on the floor awhile now. He had finished his work but when he tried to go back to his "bed" Alphys had thrown a stapler at him. She wanted him to stay incase she needed help with something.

Occasionally she would ask Sans a question. He would sleepily point out the answer and go back to his doze.

It would be nice if she just let him sleep...

It had been awhile since Alphys had asked him a question. Maybe she wouldn't mind if he just....

Sans could feel it, he was just on the edge of sleep. It was so close. Maybe if he just relaxed a bit more.

The door slammed open with a loud thump. Years of conditioning kicked in. Sans was on his feet in seconds.

" 'm up. I'm up." Sans said desperately trying to straighten out his close.

It took him a few seconds to realize he wasn't at home. However something in his subconscious must of recognized his brothers signature entrance because standing in the doorway was a rather angry looking Papyrus.

" _ SANS _ " Papyrus started.

Alphys just slammed her laptop shut.

"I am working here! If you two want to fight do it somewhere else!"

Papyrus seemed taken aback at her sudden outburst. Sans who knew her better just shook his head. Alphys got really aggressive if you interrupted her when she was thinking.

That amusement was short lived as Papyrus stalked over and grabbed Sans. "VERY WELL, WE WILL TAKE THIS OUTSIDE."

Sans could feel sweat beading on his skull. "W-w-w-wait Boss! y-y-you aren't planning on fighting m-m-me are you."

The larger of the two said nothing, he merely continued to drag his older brother out of the room. Sans knew better than to resist. He would need to take his beating quietly. That was the only way out of a situation like this.

However Papyrus didn't start beating the smaller of the two. Instead Sans found himself tossed into the room they had slept in. He landed on the floor hard and when Sans looked up he saw Papyrus looming over him.

"WE NEED TO TALK."

"S-sure boss, 'bout w-what?" Of course he had an idea but he was stalling for time. This was something Sans was hoping to hold off for a bit longer.

"YOU HAVE NOT BEEN HONEST WITH ME  _ BROTHER" _ Oh ya Sans was in some deep shit. Papyrus only called him brother when he was _ really _ mad. Like Sans was about to get a new crack mad.

"uhhhh y-yea 'bout t-that-"

"I DON'T WANT EXCUSES I WANT ANSWERS." Papyrus said cutting Sans off.

It could have taken a week to talk about everything Sans had kept to himself. Hell it could have taken a month. Sans had neither the time nor the energy to have that talk.

Dusting himself off he moved over the the gurney he had used as a bed.

"I'll answer any questions you have." Sans said softly head held low. It was the best he could offer Papyrus at the moment. Hopefully from the scant information Papyrus wouldn't have to many of them.

It was clearly not what Papyrus had expected but soon his face morphed into a thoughtful look.

"OK SO WHEN WE LIVED IN THE CAPITOL AND YOU WORKED IN THE LABS. YOU WOULD OFTEN COME HOME WITH INJURIES. YOU LEAD ME TO BELIEVE IT WAS BECAUSE YOU WERE A CLUMSY OAF."

Sans winched at that but Papyrus took no notice.

"HOWEVER THAT WAS NOT THE CASE WAS IT?"

"Wow." Sans said rubbing his wrist. "I uhh... didn't think you would remember that." 

"YOU ARE AVOIDING THE QUESTION."

"S-sorry, ya It wasn't because I was clumsy. I was actually  really good a-at my job."

Papyrus seemed to be getting annoyed.

"SO WHAT DID CAUSE YOU TO BECOME SO INJURED? WAS IT THE DETERMINATION?"

"m-most of it but not all. S-sometimes when Gaster c-couldn't find a test subject he would u-use me. I t-think sometimes he w-would just do things for shits and giggles. One time he poured some a-acid in my eye."

Sans rubbed around the rim of his eye socket absentmindedly. "H-he told me it was a serum of some kind, I c-can't remember what it was s-suppose to do, but after it burned up the inside of my skull he told me it must have just b-been a bad reaction. I latter found the bottle he had used. It was labeled sulfuric acid."

"WHY DID YOU STAY?" Papyrus asked looking honestly puzzled.

Sans laughed but there was no humor in it. "I don't know if you remember how shitty life was before I got that job but with the benefits we were safe. We had a home, food, clothes, money. I was able to start a college fund for you."

Sans didn't see the look of shock that briefly flickered across his brothers face. He was to into what he was saying.

"Of course that went down the shitter when I bought us that house in snowdin."

As the talk wore on Sans started to get this faraway look. His stutter lessened and he stopped shaking. It was like he was sitting here in the room with Papyrus but his mind was somewhere else. Somewhere far away.

Papyrus noticed this but didn't try to bring Sans back to the present. He was finally getting the answers he hadn't known he wanted. It was so much easier to talk to Sans when he wasn't stuttering every two seconds.

"SO" Papyrus said voice a careful neutral "YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT SOME SKULL ATTACKS IN YOUR STORY?"

Sans eyes stayed far away the smaller of the two nodded. "Ya, those were Gaster attacks I only saw him use them a couple of times but man they were cool." The lights in his eyes went out "Well I mean they were. Before I knew where they came from."

Papyrus hummed an affirmative to get Sans going again.

"I stole them, I'm not sure how, I didn't think you could steal a magic attack, but I did it."

"CAN I SEE THEM?" Papyrus asked.

That brought Sabs out of his daze. His eye lights returned and shot up to his brothers face.

"Uhhh well ya see..." Sans said clearly uncomfortable.

" _ SANS _ " Papyrus warned.

"Well Boss I-it might be a bit dangerous in t-these close quarters..."

Papyrus just crossed his arms, the look on his face was one Sans had seen many times before. It was his I want face. Sans had never been able to sway Papyrus when he had the I want face.

"FINE, THEN WE WILL TAKE THIS ELSEWHERE."

Papyrus reached the door in a few long strides and held it open. When Sans didn't move Papyrus gestured to the door with an angry huff. Reluctantly the smaller of the two dragged himself off the gurney he had been sitting on.

Luckily Sans didn't have to find an excuse because when they left the room

undyne intercepted the two.

"HEY ASSHOLES!"

The two skeletons turned their heads to see a rapidly approaching undyne.

"Alphys asked me to check and see if Sans was still alive." Undyne said seemingly unaffected by her sprint down the hall. "She said if that was the case then she wanted to see you in the War Room."

Jumping at the opportunity for escape Sans just said "Yes Ma'am" and tried to bolt down the hallway. Papyrus caught his arm and held him fast.

"SANS, THIS IS NOT OVER."

"Y-yea, you g-got it boss."

and with that the three monsters headed down the hall.

* * * * *

When Undyne opened the door for the brothers Alphys jumped out of her chair in a hurry. "Good you're still alive!'

"Thanks?" Sans said unsure of how to respond to that statement.

"I need you to run and grab something for me!"

Finally reaching Sans she shoved a flash drive into his hand. "I need to get some information from the core. Some readings! God why didn't I think of it sooner!"

"Think of what sooner?" Undyne asked but Sans already had an idea If she was suggesting what he thought she was...

"Sans I need you to blink over to the core and copy the readings for the past few days, I've been working off of speculations when I could have had hard data!"

"WAIT" Papyrus cut in "YOU WANT TO SEND HIM BACK THERE? YOU KNOW HOW LONG THAT WILL TAKE?"

Alphys just looked from Sans to Papyrus then back to Sans. "Just do it." She said and walked back to her chair.

Papyrus was irate "DO WHAT!?"

"Ya do WHAT?!" Undyne chimed in seemingly excited by her subordinates outburst.

Sans just looked his brother dead in the eye and said. "Uhhh Sorry Boss give me a sec?"

Papyrus was not going to give his brother a "sec" but before he could protest Sans had already slipped through the door.

Papyrus opened the door a moment after his brother slipped through only to confronted by an empty hallway. Undyne who was right behind him was also looking into the hallway summed up his emotions perfectly.

"where the fuck'd he go?"


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans comes back with some bad nes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if I want this to be done by chapter 30 or so I need to get things moving along!
> 
> Sorry I know this isn't my best work but I have been on the road and its just not a creatively conducive environment. @~@
> 
> Oh well hope you enjoy anyway! ^u^
> 
> Also thank you Laylee your comment! it inspired the doughnut bit!

"FUCK IT" Papyrus said throwing up his hands "FUCK HIM!"

"Ewwww that's your brother!" Undyne said with a big mocking smile.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN." The angry skeleton said with an angry stomp.

"I guess I do." She said phishing her cellphone out "Did you call your guys yet?"

Papyrus shook his head "I HAVE NOT"

"Well you better give them a call. If they have to make the journey from Snowdin it may take a couple hours."

Papyrus nodded pulling out his cellphone as well.

He only had two monsters under his lead that were not blood thirsty back stabbers. Those two were unusually warm blooded for the royal guard. The only reason Papyrus had allowed the to stay filling the two lowest ranking spots is because they could be a deadly team when the need arose. Now he would use that to his advantage.

* * * * *

In the core observation room all was quiet. The normally brightly lit room was only illuminated by the steadily weakening illumination of the core itself.  The light it sent off was pitiful it hadn't shone do weakly since it had been created.

There were few monsters in the underground who would know the true gravity and implication of what was happening. Lucily one of them just so happened to appear in the room, out of nowhere apparently. and he stood there staring at the week glow.

Then he abruptly turned heel and walked out of the room. He had things to do and apparently not to long to do them.

* * * * *

It was easy enough of a job. Go grab some data and come back. On any other day it would have been a walk at the park. The threat of Gaster had put Sans on edge though. Everytime he came around a corner he expected to see his former boss there ready to pounce.

The room that carried all the machinery and mothering equipment was like a maze. It had been years since Sans had set foot in the building and most of the stuff had been moved. There was a main terminal Sans could have used to get the data but it only updated every half hour. He needed the most recent data so he went to every separate system terminal, plugged in his flash drive, downloaded what he needed, and went searching for the next bit.

As he moved from terminal to terminal the information he was collecting started getting more and more dier. Even though Sans was looking at raw information he had enough knowledge to know what a lot of it meant and very little of it was good.

It felt like he had been working on this stupid task forever when he finally got the last of what he came for. When he pulled the flash drive out of the last slot he was gone. There was no way he was staying to be discovered by the doctor.

Sans teleported into the room he had slept in with Papyrus. He was relieved to see his brother was not home. Sans just lowered himself to the floor and thought about how much shit they were all in.

He knew he should go give Alphys that drive ASAP. It was the logical thing to do. But....

That last jump had reminded him that running off of no food and a shot of adrenaline was probably not the safest option.

A hunger pain was the final nail in the coffin.

He needed food, The Underground hadn't fallen apart just yet, it could probably wait an extra couple of minutes.

Probably...

* * * * *

Alphys was sitting at the table she had been working on.

It had been an hour since she had finished the last of what she could do with limited data. Sans still wasn't back. It shouldn't have taken this long. Maybe sanding him back into the metaphorical lions den hadn't been a good idea?

Nah.

Sans could handle himself. If he was late it was because he was being a  _ lazy asshole.  _ After many years of knowing Sans Alphys had come to know that being a lazy asshole was one of Sans talents.

In fact his talents could be listed as such. Quantum physics, balancing a pile of books on  his head, and being a lazy asshole. Just as Alphys was thinking it would have been quicker to send Undyne or Papyrus to get what she needed there was a knock at the door.

"Come in" Alphys shouted.

"I uhhhhh need some help." Said a familiar voice from the other side of the door.

She was at the door in no time at all. She grabbed the handle and peeked outside. The sight that greeted Alphys made her want to slam the door again immediately. She restrained herself though.

“How did you knock?”

Sans was standing there carrying three pink cardboard boxes balance precariously on top of each other. The boxes were covering most of his face but she could see his eye sockets peeking over the top.

"I used my head.." he said casually as he let himself in.

"What the hell is that!" Alphys said angrily after she got over her initial shock.

"Breakfast?" Sans replied taking a doughnut out of the box.

Aphys just put both of her hands over her face and made a noise of distress.

"That's not what I sent you to get!"

"Yea yea." Sans said mouth full of doughnut. When he had finished chewing his food Sans reached into the pocket of his jacket. Pulling out a small rectangle Sans tossed the device to the overwrought lizard who fumbled a bit but caught it.

"I got your shit. I don't have those fancy programs you have on your _ laptop  _ but from what I can tell shits pretty dire."

Sans grabbed another doughnut out of the box..

"We're probably not gonna have time for some breakfast so I took the liberty of stopping by the spider bitches bake sale and getting a few goodies."

"You couldn't have done that after you dropped off the drive?"

Sans just scoffed "After you look at those files you're gonna make me stay. You're gonna make me work my ass off without a single break!"

Alphys opened her mouth to object but Sans cut her off.

"Al I worked with you for  _ years  _ I know you better than you know you."

Alphys probably would have had a snide comment to shoot back but she had seen the data that was flickering across the screen.

"Told ya." Sans said when he saw her face.

Alphys got up from her chair and headed towards the door.

"Hey! Where are you going!"

"To go find you a laptop." Alphys replied not breaking step.

"So now I get a _ laptop _ ?"

The door shut but Sans continued on with his rant to no one.

"Seriously? I guess all it took was a little life and death situation to help you see reason! I could have played ten- no twelve games of solitaire by now! Who knows I might have gotten bored with that and beat the computer at chess a few times! But no I had to lay on the floor board! With nothing to do for li-"

Sans droning voice continued on for awhile but no one was there to hear it and eventually he stopped as well and just waited. Munching on doughnuts and croissants to pass the time.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is about to get wrangled into some more work. Is the poor guy ever going to catch a break?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to the grind. Its been fun working on Broken trust but now I can het back to my baby! Its been while but I got most of the final act worked out now. Thank you for your patients I know its been awhile since I updated this one. Now lets go! I hope you enjoy the chapter!

"I'm done!" Sans said in a huff pushing the laptop away from him.

The two monsters had split the work evenly. Most of what they were doing was running information through pre-existing programs to interpret the raw data. It wasn't hard but it did take time. When everything was done it would take a scientist, Alphys not Sans he had done enough today, to determine what it all meant.

Sans stood up and went to leave.

"Where do you think you're going" Alphys asked threateningly. When Sans turned around he saw she was holding the broken and dented stapler from last time in a threatening manner.

"Going for a walk." he said going back to leaving.

"No you're not!" She said and chucked the stapler, Sans sidestepped easily.

"Ya, I am." He said with an evil smirk.

With that he left. He really did need to walk around, stretch his legs, clear his mind. It would forever be a mystery to him how Alphys could work so for long without breaks. It was weird, to put it mildly.

On the other hand everything was coming together. The data was collected and sorted. With the new information his timeline had been narrowed down. His brother and the captain were calling in reinforcements. His part was pretty much over. All he had to do was sit back and watch the action unfold.

Actually he was going to take a nap. A nice long nap in the comfort of his own-

Sans ran into something soft.

He looked up in time to see two large furry arms embrace him before he was lifted in the air and something was nuzzling into the top of his head.

"Sans!" an annoyingly happy female voice said from above him. Not a moment later another set of arms joined the hug.

"Sans!" an equally annoying male voice said.

_ Oh god  _ Sans thought as he was smothered  _ why them _ ?

He managed to free an arm to pat one of the dogs backs.

"Hey, Dogamy Dogaressa. Good to see ya, mind putting me down?"

He heard Undyne laugh somewhere close by and he knew he wasn't alone with the two overly affectionate dog monsters.

"But Sans you never come visit!" Dogamy said.

"Yes! Sans you promised you would!" Dogaressa continued.

Sans couldn't stand these two. They were the lowest ranking member of the guard so the didn't have to worry about getting offed for their position. However the prestige that came with being apart of the guard kept them safe from the small fry trying to take them out.

They had taken advantage of this and set up shop in the woods just outside of town. There they lead their sickeningly affectionate live in privacy. Since Sans had to walk past there to get to his station, he knew the dogs and they knew him. Dogaressa was always inviting him to hang out with the two of them and Sans was always putting it off. He had no inchon of spending more time then he had to with those dogs.

When the two didn't let up on the snuggling Sans waved his one free arm and said "A little help here?"

Undyne let out another bark of laughter but offered no assistance.

Seeing he would get no help he tried to wiggle out of their grasp. His fruitless wiggling was interrupted when he heard his brother say "THAT IS ENOUGH PUT IT DOWN."

The next thing Sans knew he was sitting on the floor staring up at the dogs that had been holding him hostage moments ago. He noted they were not wearing their cold weather armor and instead just a few pieces of leather battle armour over some thin black clothes.

He turned his head to see what they were looking at. Standing not far away was Papyrus trying to look serious but clearly amused. Further away was Undyne flanked by two body builders? Seriously, those two asshole were a couple of the buffest monsters he had ever seen. And one was a bunny monster?!

What the hell he didn't even know that type of monster could get buff.

"SANS, WE HAVE JUST BROUGHT THESE FOUR UP TO SPEED ON CURRENT EVENTS. WE ARE NOW HEADED TO THE THRONE ROOM TO SPEAK WITH THE KING."

"Cool." Sans said getting to his feet and dusting himself off. " i'll just let you get to it then..."

Papyrus moved so he was standing in front of his older brother.

"YOU ARE COMING WITH US."

Sans didn't really want to but he knew better than to talk back to his brother. Papyrus had been way too busy to dole out any punishments but Sans knew when this was all over there would be some major hell to pay.

So he just put his head down and followed the procession to the throne room. Maybe he could catch a nap there.

* * * * *

The seven monsters stood in front of the King as he looked them over. It was not the ideal group of monster but it would have to do.

He began.

"I hope that you all know why we are here today?"

The monster's in the room all nodded, with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

"Good." Asgore stood up from his position on the throne. He knew he was large and standing helped him look more intimidating. He could not look weak in front of his subjects. Asgore had spent years perfecting his image and at this point it was a science.

He stepped forward so he could stand in front of the line of monsters. He looked each one in the face. All of his guards were standing head held high waiting for orders. The small skeleton at the end however was standing head down shoulders slumped. Asgore wasn't sure if he was awake or not but decided to let it pass for now.

"You are all going to have to work as a team for this mission. One of the human souls has been stolen and you are going to retrieve it."

The small skeletons head jerked up and he looked around nervously. Surely he knew he was apart of this mission as well? That was not his problem though. He needed to get that soul back before news of its disappearance leaked to the public. He could not have people's hope taken away or people thinking he was weak.

"I will describe to you the outline of this mission and inform you on each of your tasks."

Hopefully everything would work out without much trouble. This may not be the strongest group of monsters in the underground but they were all he had. He would make this work and if it didn't ...

Well failure was not tolerated in his court.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome our newest members of this fic 01, 02, Dogamy, and Dogaressa! Thank my sister for the dogs personality. She said she thought it would be funny if in the middle of this evil world there was just like normal undertale dog love.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can we get started yet?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the short update. I am done with my big HW thing so I will have more time to wright from now on! ^.^

It didn't take long for Asgore to explain his  _ stupid _ plan. 

Well it wasn't that stupid but it still didn't take a master tactician to think up.

Two teams consisting of a leader, two grunts and someone with knowledge of the Core and the proper handling of souls. Team 1 and Team A (Because of course neither Undyne nor papyrus would be willing to be in charge of team 2 or team b) Would go into the core complex, they would make there way to the core proper through two separate paths. While searching for the soul.

Alphys had come in at the end of his explanation and explained there were only a couple of places he could be hiding the DT extractor and soul. The most logical being the room where all the computers and monitoring equipment were held. She also explained what was wrong with the core.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" Sans asked.

"Yes, n-nothing the black anomaly c-consists of nothing it's like the vacuum of s-space. However even in space you have d-dust particles floating a-around. Something l-like this shouldn't e-exist."

Asgore gave Alphys a look that reminded her to continue.

"B-b-but it does so I think the best way to c-counteract this c-corruption would be a complete core reboot."

A core reboot what the slang term for shutting down the core then restarting it. This was usually done if it destabilized. You would stop supplying the magic that kept the reaction going. Without the magic the core would shrink to a much smaller size. At a smaller size it was usually able to restabilize and then you could pump more magic in to increase the size again.

It was not very scientific but theoretically it could work.

well maybe it could work?

At this point it was better then the next step which was to completely shut down the core. Let the reaction die out and then have to create a whole new core.

There was some power saved up but that would run out quickly leaving the entire Underground in darkness until the new core was big enough to start pumping out power.

The loss of life if that happened would be astronomical.

So ya reboot it was.

Anyways the team to find the soul was responsible for its safe return and the other team was responsible for the reboot. Also if one team encountered Gaster than they would be a distraction.

Sans honestly didn't even care at this point about the core. He didn't care about the soul. He didn't care about the fate of the underground. What he did care about was that soon he would have to do some serious work.

He looked at the monsters he was suppose to be working with. Papyrus saw him looking and glared, the dogs saw Papyrus glare and looked to see Sans staring. The dogs started to wave happily at him as their tails wagged.

"ARE YOU QUITE READY? WE MUST BE GOING IF WE ARE TO GET TO THE CORE BEFORE IT IS CONSUMED." Papyrus said tapping his foot impatiently.

Sans just lowered his head in defeat. This was gonna be a long fuckin day. 

"Ya, comin' boss."


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is that black shit?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back from my trip! (Four flights in five days never doing that again! @~@) This chapter is still a bit short but I wanted to cut it before it got to long and this seamed to be the best place to do that. 
> 
> Also this fan fic has reached another milestone! We are at over 200 comments! 
> 
> as a thank you look forward to another one shot! Do you guys want more grillbys shenanigans or some baby skeleton bros being assholes? Let me know in the comments!

The two groups met as they were leaving for their mission. The two team leaders started a conversation and so did the "science experts."

"Excited?" Sans asked with a lopsided grin.

"Are you?" Alphys shot back agitated.

Sans placed a hand on her shoulder "Not one bit."

Alphys pushed his hand off  as she rolled her eyes "Of course you would say that."

"Listen Al I know a lot more about souls and DT then you do. You are way better at Core maintenance than me. If you get your team to head to the core I'll try and get my guys to start looking for the soul."

Alphys gave Sans a look he couldn't quite place. "You know if you do that you're more likely to run into Dr. Gaster right?"

Sans just shrugged "Ya probably, I figure I'm in this godforsaken mission whether I like it or not." Sans cracked his neck "I should give the old guy a little thank you for that, and what he did to the Boss."

Alphys shook her head "You sound like you should be bad gangster movie."

"Well Al I don't know whether or not you've been paying attention but that's kind of my atheistic."

“Atheistic? When did you learn such a big word?"

Sans and Alphys were now walking just far enough behind the group there conversation probably wouldn't be overheard.

"So what do you think will happen? Ya know, if the core gets completely corrupted buy this "nothing" crap?"

"I'm not sure, It could just fizzle out or it could turn into a black hole."

"A _black hole_?" Sans said a bit caught off guard "How do you suppose _that?_ I don't know how long it’s been since you've looked into the _basic_ _functions of the universe_ but I am fairly sure that black holes are made by mater being constricted into a very small point that gets so much gravity that it eats everything! Not by the absence of matter but because of an overabundance of it in a small area!"

Alphys rolled her eyes. "I know that! and I don't mean a black hole in the traditional respect!"

She took a moment to gather her thoughts before she continued.

atheistic

"As time goes on the darkness in the core is growing. It is actually growing at an exponential rate and one of my theories is that it is feed off the cores energy to grow. If this theory holds true then who's to say the nothing will stop when it eats the core? It could continue "eating" everything until there is nothing left."

Sans considered this as they walked until a thought occurred to him.

"So do you think it would eat the barrier or be trapped by it? When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object and all that shit."

Alphys shook her head and picked up the pace.

"Hey, come on! It’s a good question!" Sans called trying to keep the laugh out of his voice.

"God that's morbid." Alphys said under her breath. She would not admit that she had thought of that herself and the idea scared her half to death. What if not only monster kind was in danger but all of existence?

* * * * *

The group reached the point where they would have to split into two halves. They turned to Alphys for her opinion and she got her group to go around to the entrance closest to the Core proper. That left Papyrus' group to head towards the far side to start the search.

The four monsters moved silently into the complex to begin the search once again this time focusing on areas with a lot of tech stored inside.

* * * * *

A shadow amongst shadows was In some serious trouble.

It was imperative he continued his work.

( **_He needed to find that traitor_ ** .)

He needed to prove himself to his king so he could gain what he had lost.

( **_He needed to get back what was stolen_ ** .)

...

Gaster had been feeling his mind slip for awhile now. His composure was being slowly chipped away and he had no clue as to why it was happening. Any normal monster would have been concerned by this but gaster just found it...

Fascinating.

This was so fascinating. It had been awhile

( **_Months, Years, eons?_ ** )

since he had felt so alive!

He had always come out on top. He was cunning, he was skillful, he was ruthless. Nothing could stop him now! The king would see how much he needed him! He would get everything back, his position, his respect, his toys!

( **_He would get his revenge_ ** )

The tangent had distracted the doctor, that is until something brought his attention back to reality.

Voices

( **_Voices_ ** )

The shadow seemed to melt a bit into the floor before it started to slide under the machine it had been near.

This was bad.

( **_Bad_ ** )

What would he do?

( **_Wait_ ** )

Yes he would wait and see.

( **_This could be good_ ** .)

This could be good, an opportunity, he just needed to bide his time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans you need to start taking things a bit more seriously. @~@


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans has a plan.
> 
> Papyrus has a better plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! an update? 
> 
> I bet you guys think I forgot @u^
> 
> So ya sorry about the wait I have no excuse @n@
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy!

Of course everything Sans did want tit's up.

He was starting to think it was a law of the universe.

They hadn't even been here twenty minutes when they came across the dark shadow, he had once known as his mentor. Next to him on the floor was Alphys, she wasn't moving probably unconscious.

Undyne and those two body builder freaks were nowhere to be seen.

"God dammit." Sans said under his breath.

In front of him stood his brother flanked by Dogressa and Dogamy.

The small party of monsters had literally stumbled across this scene out of nowhere as they were looking for the soul.  Sans feared the worse as he saw Alphys alone. Undyne was so over protective of the small monster that there was no way she  would let Al  leave her sight. Willingly that is, something bad must have happened to the other party. How could things go so bad so quickly.

"LET DOCTOR ALPHYS GO." Papyrus demanded.

A noise that might have been a laugh left Gasters mouth. "I think not."

The dogs let out a low growel’s and the fur on the back of their necks was standing on end.

Gaster positioned his body so he was standing blocking Alphys from view. Well maybe standing was a bit generous. It would be more accurate to say he was blobbing in front of Alpys blocking her from view.

"If you want her so bad why don't you just come over here and get her?" The Ex royal scientist taunted.

Papyrus took a step forward as if he was going to charge but Sans grabbed his arm. Papyrus looked back to see his older brother give him the slightest shake of his skull. Unsealy the powerful guard would scoff if anyone was to try and tell him what to do. However this was not just anyone he was dealing with. After a moment of indecision he took a more defensive stance.

"It would appear we are at an impasse then." Gaster said folding his two white hands in front of him.

"YES THAT WOULD APPEAR TO BE THE CASE." Papyrus responded.

They were all in one of the many corridors that littered the complex. Sans was well hidden behind the bulking monsters in front of him. That was probably for the better. Sans knew the two most important monsters on this mission were himself and Alphys. Sans also knew they were the monsters highest on Gasters shit list.

Scanning the area quickly he saw a vent in the wall just behind where Gaster was holding Alphys. A plan formed in his skull but how to get his brothers attention without revealing his presence to the deranged monster?

" Hey Boss,don't turn around." Sans said in a low voice.

Papyrus stilled so Sans knew he had been heard.

"G is a fuckin' coward. If you attack him long range he might make a run for it."

Papyrus didn't turn to Sans but instead changed tactics.

"IF YOU DO NOT RELEASE THE DOCTOR I WILL HAVE TO RESORT TO FORCE." He summoned a long bone construct in his hand. One end was broken and jagged so the whole thing reembed a spear. "YOU HAVE UNTIL THE COUNT OF FIVE."

"Oh I would not do that if I were you." The other monster said blandly.

"ONE..."

Papyrus said dangerously but Gaster didn't move.

"TWO..."

The dogs each raised there ax in preparation for a conflict.

"THREE..."

Gasters eye's started to glow with a faint almost imperceivable light.

"FOUR..."

Sans braced himself.

"FIVE."

Papyrus finished as he sent the makeshift spear flying towards Dr. Gaster.

Only to have his spear completely miss the target. Not because Papyrus missed but because Gaster’s body once again seemed to shift so the attack went right through him without making contact with his body.

The same unsettling almost laugh left Gasters mouth as his eyes started glow more brightly. "I told you, you shouldn't haVE DONE THAT."

The doctor's body was a glitching dripping mess as Papyrus released a few more bone attacks in the direction of his target. None of them made contact and Papyrus had to do the one thing he hated most.

"FALLBACK." He said as Gaster started his charge.

Papyrus turned away from the quickly approaching threat as Dogamy and Dogressa did the same with a simultaneous "Yes sir!"

Sans was not fast or agile he was unable to get out of his younger brothers way. So for the sake of time Papyrus manhandled Sans until he was secured in his arms. Sans was so stunned all he could do was look over his brother's shoulder at the approaching darkness.

"WHAT THE FUCK? I THOUGHT YOU SAID HE WOULD RUN!" Papyrus yelled at him as he started to run.

" I thought he would! Undyne and I couldn't get that fucker to stay in a room with us last time we were here!" Sans said as he  made eye contact with Gaster. The lights in his eyes were flickering with a strange energy that didn't even seem to register Sans' presence. "On the bright side he ditched Alphys." Sans finished lamely.

Papyrus was ignoring Sans as he ran.

"WE NEED TO LOSE HIM."  Papyrus said to Dogressa.

"We're right behind you sir." She panted out as she ran.

There was a T junction ahead and the hallway had given away to catwalks.

“FOLLOW MY LEAD I HAVE A _ GOOD  _ PLAN."

How was it that even in a life and death situation Papyrus still had time to be a total asshole?

"Yes sir." the two dogs said.

"and what would this plan be?" Sans asked. The T junction was approaching quickly and they were not slowing down.

"DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH ENERGY FOR A BLUE ATTACK?"

"Ya..." Sans replied not liking where this was going.

"GOOD." Papyrus said to Sans  "DOGRESSA CATCH."

Sans didn't have much time to process before he was haphazardly tossed into the open arms of Dogressa.

The catwalk ended only a few feet away and Papyrus still hadn't slowed down.

"Fuck." Sans breathed as he realized what Papyrus was planing. Sans tightened his grip on the furry neck as they came to the edge.

"JUMP." Papyrus said and without a second thought Sans younger brother and Dogamy went over the edge. Next it was Sans and Dogressa's turn.

"Funkin hell!" Sans said one last time before they took the jump off the edge of the catwalk into the drop that was so deep you could only see faint traces of lava below.

* * * *

The shock of seeing the four monsters jump to their death in front of him gave Gaster pause. It was enough to pull him out of the rage filled haze he had been in moments ago. More slowly and cautiously he came to the railing and looked over.

All that greeted him was a large drop that ended in lava.

"Are they dead." He mumbled to himself.

( **Of course they are** )

"Of course they are."

( **We should get back to work** )

"Yes." Gaster said moving off to the left "Work.."

* * * *

"Thanks for the warning Boss!" Sans said angrily as soon as Gaster was gone.

"IT WORKED DIDN'T IT?!" Papyrus shot back.

"Now boy's." Dogamy Said his feet planted firmly on the underside of the catwalk. He was holding onto the dangling skeleton firmly but Papyrus did not look happy about the precarious situation he was in.

Sans was in a better position but not by much. Dogressa had a firm hold on him but he still didn't want to look up and see how high they were. The blue attack Papyrus had used on Dogamy would probably last for a little while but the longer they stood on the Underside of the Catwalk the more Papyrus' magic was drained.

Sans could probably hold his Blue attack on Dogressa longer but still it was not wise to waste any more magic than they needed too. Gravity magic could be quite draining.

"We should probably get back onto solid ground." Doggressa said.

With a little fiddling Sans and Papyrus managed to maneuver the group back to the right side of the catwalk. When that was done Dogressa licked a big slobbery strip up the front of Sans face.

"Thank you dear!" She said tail wagging enthusiastically. Sans tried to push her away but the big dog just hugged him tighter. A quick peek told him Papyrus was having the same problem. Over excited dogs were never fun to deal with.

After the third lick Sans finally managed to get away from the happy dog monster and wipe his face on the front of his red T-shirt. After his face was clear he looked over to Papyrus to see he had also freed himself.

"Maybe we should go check on Alphys." He suggested. Gaster had gone a completely different direction and seamed to have completely forgotten about the other scientist. As if the moment his eyes had left her she was just completely gone out of his mind. It was really weird.

Papyrus gave a nod a motioned for the dogs to follow him and once again there little part set off.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So... what happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, As you have probably noticed updates for this have been a bit spiratic That is because I just moved to a new state. We are fixing up the house and it is taking a lot of time and effort not to mention try to get set up with the Department of rehabilitation as all that crud...
> 
> So would you guys rather I update more frequent shorter chapters (500-700 words) Or wait for longer ones (1200-1500 words) ? Let me know what you think in the comments sections! I would really appreciate it! ^u^
> 
> also shout out to Inspiration! for the... well Inspirational links! XD
> 
> Anyways hope you guys enjoy!

The four monsters reached Alphys body quickly. Papyrus posted a dog at each end of the corridor to keep watch,

"Alphys?" Sans asked gently shaking her shoulder.

"THAT IS NOT HOW YOU PROPERLY WAKE SOMEONE." Papyrus scolded kneeling on the other side of the unconscious monster. For a moment when Papyrus put his hands on Alphys shoulder Sans though he was just going to do the same thing he had just tried. That was until Papyrus started to violently shake the small monster.

"ALPHYS, WAKE UP!" Papyrus yelled as he did this.

Sans would have immediately  tried to stop his brother from potentially breaking his movie buddy's neck but said movie buddy saved him the trouble. Not a second after Papyrus had started his onslaught a scaly clawed fist collided with his jaw.

Considering Papyrus' amount combat experience and Alpys lack of training the punch did almost no damage. The abruptness of it all did cause Papyrus to become stunned enough to let Alphys scramble out of his, now loose, grasp eyes wide.

It looked like she was getting ready to summon an attack. Something like that wouldn't have hurt Papyrus but if Sans even got grazed that was game over for him. Dodging something like that in a tight space was a no go so he did the next best thing.

Grabing Alphys arms he forcefully held them to her sides.

"Alphys calm down!" He said forcefully as Papyrus had already regained his senses and was watching the two intently, ready to step in if needed.

With her arms restrained Alphys thrashed a bit as her hands sparked with unreleased magic. Sans got smacked in the legs a couple of times by her thrashing tail but he kept his hold. The whole time he was talking in a low calm voice trying to get her to calm down.

"Shhhh it's okay"

"You're safe, You're safe."

"Calm down 's me Sans."

It didn't take long for her to calm down. Her eyes went from wide and feral to focused and confused.

"What happened?" Sans finally asked when Alphys breathing evened out.

" I-I-I-I d-d-d-don't-" Alphys stuttered working herself up again.

"Deep breaths." Sans said hand placed lightly on her shoulder.

After she calmed down for the second time she started again. Her stuttering calmed down enough to the point that she was at least legible.

"I-I d-don't, I m-mean I'm n-n-not sure. Undyne, 01, 02 and I w-were going t-to g-go t-to the c-c-core o-o-observation room. I n-needed to find them-m- manual for the p-p-procedure..."

The two skeletons waited while Alphys took a moment to get her breathing under control again Papyrus seemed annoyed at the slow manner they were obtaining information at. However he wasn't dumb enough to start yelling. With how skittish she was, yelling would probably just make thing worse. Not to mention Alphys technically outranked him.

"G-g-gaster w-w-was there. U-undyne started to fight h-h-him. 01 w-went t-t-to help w-w-wile 02 guarded m-me."

"IS UNDYNE OKAY?" Papyrus asked not able to hold himself back anymore.

" _ I don't know _ !" Alphys snarled angrily, stutter momentarily overridden by her anger.

"I g-got knocked o-out." She continued "I don't r-remember anything o-other the fight. I-I j-just w-woke up w-with you g-guys."

"WELL WE FOUND GASTER TAKING YOU SOMEWHERE. WHEN WE SHOWED UP HE DROPPED YOU. THE FOUR OF US OUT MANOEUVRED HIM AND CAME BACK HERE TO GET YOU."

Alphys face seemed to go pale as she realized the implications of that statement. "s-s-so Undyne..."

"We don't know nothin' " Sans interrupted giving Alphys a firm slap on the back as he stood up.

"INDEED." Papyrus confirmed also rising to his feet. "UNDYNE IS  ONE OF THE TOUGHEST MONSTERS IN THE UNDERGROUND. I AM SURE SHE IS FINE."

"O-okay." Alphys said still not fully convinced.

"Well it looks like this great "plan" Is already shot to shit." Sans said to Papyrus crossing his arms.

"YES IT SEAMS THAT IS THE CASE." Papyrus replied wondering where Sans was going with this.

"Whadya say we go see if we can't find that manual those guys were looking for."  _ and see if we can find them _ was the unspoken ending to that statement.

"I THINK WE CAN DO THAT."  Papyrus spoke as his eyes said.  _ IF YOU TELL ME WHAT TO DO AGAIN I AM GOING TO BREAK YOUR SPINE. _

Sans just smiled ignoring his brother death glare for the moment to see how Alphys was doing. She was a little shaky on her feet but looked otherwise okay. Her face was set into a look of grim determination.

"L-let's d-do it."


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So here is what happened...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back? 
> 
> Spoiler alert: its me! 
> 
> When I said updates would be slower I didn't mean by this much! I want to do one update a week for TLB. Its just I got like 4 job interviews last week and a cat.( Her name is wheatley and I love her very much.)
> 
> So back to our regular secluded updates! XD Let me know what you think! and I hope you enjoy!

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" Undyne growled dangerously when she saw a familiar dark shape trying to quickly dart around a corner.

 

The escaping shape froze. Doctor Gaster turned to face to group of monsters.

 

"Oh, Hello." He said trying to feign nonchalance.

 

Undyne just scowled "You have something that don't belong to you, prick. We're here to get it back."

 

The Doctor's face morphed from wide eye inocentes to malicious in seconds.

 

"And hello to you Dr. Alphys." Gaster purred a light layer of static seeping into his voice. 

 

This did not do anything good for the small nervous monster. This had not been part of the plan. Sans had said he would handle Gaster! Of course she knew the odds were rather high that she would be apart of the group to run into the mad Doctor. It was basically 50/50. However Alphys never thought it would be her to actually handle things.

 

She was torn from her thought as Undynes boisterous voice filled the room.

 

“Hey! Fuck face! You are talking to me not her!” 

 

The dim eye lights set in gasters cracked disfigured eyes made there way back to the captain. 

 

“I am afraid you are not the one I am interested in speaking too.” Gaster said offhandedly. This only managed to make Undyne more radge filled. 

 

“Where is the soul! If you don’t tell me where you have it i’ll have to BEAT YOUR FUCKING HEAD IN so you better spill!” 

 

Gasters form seemed to twitch as the whole black blob that made up his body started jittering and moving. The whole effect was unsettling but Undyne was not about to back down. She had dealt with all sorts of deranged bloodlust filled monsters. This asshole was nothing!

 

Undyne was about to yell again but before she could gaster started talking to himself. 

 

“Alphys…” Gaster said in his normal voice.

 

“ALPHYS” He repeated in a more distorted version of his own voice. 

 

“But the pasn…”

 

“FORGET THE PLAN.” 

 

“Can’t…need to..”

 

“WE CAN USE HER.”

 

“Use h-” Gaster didn’t have a chance to finish what he was saying as a spear made out of pure angry magic flew towards him. His body, as if on instinct, moved out of the way. His gelatinous body flowed like water creating a hole where the spear hit the floor causing him no harm. 

 

“I WAS TALKING TO YOU! Where is the SOUL!” Undyne yelled fuming. 

 

Gaster turned so he was looking at the angry fish woman. 

 

“I have changed my mind. I will be taking Dr. Alphys with me.”

 

“COLD DAY IN HELL! 02 with me. 01 keep Alphys safe.” 

 

“...Yes ma’am.” 02 said as he stepped towards his captain.

 

“ Looks like you’re totally with me.” 01 said to Alphys who was shaking.

 

Ignoring her newly appointed guard Alphys took a step forward. “ b-b-b-be c-careful.”

 

Undyne just waved her off “I can take on this fucker no problem.”

 

“Oh can you.” Gaster said from behind the group. Somehow he had managed to get behind them without anyone noticing. 

 

01 had grabbed Alphys and pulled her out of the way as Undyne formed another spear in her hand to swing right at Gasters face. The spear should have made a connection but somehow it didn’t. Instead Gaster just wasn’t there for a split second then Undyne was over balancing as her spear continued on its path ignoring the scientist it was supposed to incapacitate. 

 

“You son of a bitch!” She said as 01 started to unleash his own attacks. None of them met their mark but it did cause Gaster to retreat a bit. 

 

01 had maneuvered himself and Alphys so they were both against a bank of tall machines. Watching the fight ready to move them to a safer location if needed. 

 

Undyne and 02 were throwing every kind of magic they could at Gaster. None of it was sticking. In fact the crazy asshole was just smiling at them wildly as attack after attack failed to hurt him. 

 

“Even though this is quite fun. ANNOYING. But I must be going. MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE. I will be taking Alphys with me. YOU BITCH.” 

 

“BITCH? DID YOU JUST CALL ME A BITCH?” If there was one thing that made Undyne mad it was cheap tricks. Trying to bait her with insults was one of the oldest tricks in the books. Not letting any of her hits land was an admittedly new trick but no less dirty. 

 

Gaster just sat there laughing with that strange static laugh. 

 

This was drawing out too much for her taste. How long could they fight with no hope of making a hit. 01 and 02 were a couple of her most loyal guards but even they could get discouraged. This battle was bad for moral. She needed to end this soon.

 

So she decided to try and turn Gasters soul green. 

 

An admittedly good idea under normal circumstances. These were not normal circumstances. As she unsheathed the attack she could feel her magic struggle for pitches.He was moving towards their group as if it was just another walk in the park. 

 

Undyne was not going to move, this had to work. 

 

But it didn’t and soon Gaster’s increasingly glitchy shape reached the two monsters. 

 

Undyne was about to tell 01 to get out with Alphys. She needed to keep the small fragile scientist under her protection safe. Her and 02 would hold Gaster off as long as possible. 

 

It felt like a large force sucked the air out of her lungs all at once and she stumbled from the sheer shock of it. 

 

“Good night captain.” Gaster said as he moved past her towards Alphys. 

 

She desperately tried to hold on to her consciousness as she fell to the floor. As Undyne turned her head she saw 02 was already out. From behind she heard some more thumps as more monsters hit the floor. 

 

The last thought as consciousness left her was that once again they were unprepared.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are almost there...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> Sorry I've been away. Some crap happened in my life that I don't really want to get into, but I am back! I haven't looked at the comments so sorry if I haven't responded. (I've kind of been ignoring them because I am afraid everyone is mad lol) but I will check them out soon and start responding to them! \\(^u^)/ 
> 
> Hope you enjoy them chapter, things are heating up! >u< Also sorry about the errors I am sure I didn't catch... Its like one in the morning and I am latterly dyeing XP

It wasn't weird that Papyrus' group found where the 'battle' against Gaster had occurred. The two groups had been heading to more or less the same place, just by different paths. What was strange was the fact that they found several monsters instead of several piles of dust.

The captain was trying to rouse her troops. 01 was sitting rubbing at his head as Undye angrily kicked  02 in the side.

"GET UP YOU LAZY PIECE OF TRASH! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD FALL ASLEEP AT A TIME LIKE THIS! GET UP RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR I WILL-"

The raging monster abruptly stopped when she heard a shout from a few yards away.

"Undyne!"

When Undyne saw Alphys walking towards her she just stood there but when Alphys got closer Undyne yelled  "WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!"

She sounded mad but there was an undertone of worry to her words that wasn't completely hidden.

"I'm s-sorry, I guess he got me." The smaller of the two stuttered looking at the floor.

The captain put a hand on her arm.

"Don't worry it wasn't your job to protect yourself.” She said scowling.

"IT WAS ALL OF THEIR DUTIES." Papyrus said to Dogamy, his lack of an inside voice caused his voice to carry.

"What was that _ vice _ Captain?"

Never one to back down from a challenge Papyrus crossed his arms in front of his chest and scowled. "YOU HEARD ME! I SAID IT WAS ALL OF YOUR RESPONSABILITY TO BE WATCHING ALPHYS. SHE IS A MAJOR PART OF THE PLAN!"

"I don't know if you've noticed but the stupid plan has broken down. Apparently Gaster can do a whole bunch of shit we didn't know about and we are royally fucked!"

"Guys!" Alphys said putting herself between the two fuming monsters. "W-w-we just need to rethink t-things! I-I-it's going to b-be okay!"

Sans who had been rooting for a fight sighed and stepped forward.

"Ya, Al's right. We can handle this we just need to-"

But he was cut off at the sound of screeching metal. The sounds was so loud it caused all the monsters present to cover their ears. Even the skeletons put there hands over the side of their skulls out of sheer  reflex.

"That didn't sound good," Sans murmured as a second screeching sound rang out through the room. It sounded like twisting metal, a metric shit ton of metal.

"Get to the core." Undyne growled when the sound had stopped and everyone hearing came back.

The rag tag group made their way cautiously to the observation room. 02 had been woken up by 01 and was leaning against his companion for support. The dogs were Following behind Papyrus Undyne was leading the charge and Sans along with Alphys were strategically in the dead center of the group.  

It was a fairly short distance to get to the core observation room. Once everyone was inside Undyne slammed to door behind them. She barricaded it with a Chair. That made Sans smile to himself. Did the captain of the royal guard think a chair would keep Gaster out? 

The room itself was large enough for all of them to fit comfortably but the sickly light that shone through the window made it clear that something was up.

Alphys and Sans were the first to  look into the core.

In the silence  Sans voice rang out loud and clear.

"Well, shit."

This was bad.

This was soooooooo bad.

The metal the housed the core was pitted and warped.

The core itself was almost completely black.

He found himself saying "Fuckin' hell" Before there was another loud sound of metal groaning. Suddenly the glass in front of them cracked.

Sans felt himself pulled back by the hood of his jacket and suddenly he was sitting on the floor at his brother's feet away from the glass.

He just stared at the crack. That was not suppose to happen. That glass was not only thick as hell and surprisingly strong, it was also infused with magic. It could hold an enormous amount of pressure. The fact that it was cracking could only mean....

"We have to shut it down _ now _ ."

"Everyone start digging through drawers." Alphys said clearly and sternly. "We are looking for a blue booklet that says shut down procedure on the front!"

There weren't many desks to check and in a few moments Papyrus held up a bunch of papers with a blue cover held together by a binder clip. On the front was "core maintenance Core procedures Shutdown procedure."

"That's it !" Alphys said walking over to grab the 'book' out of the tall skeletons hands has he scowled down at her.

Sans and Alphys were the only two who fully understood what was happening. Alphys was taking it well  already pulling apart the papers looking for what she needed.  Sans found himself standing by the crack in the window. Despite the terror of the whole situation he found himself fascinated by the ball of darkness. It only had a few streaks of light filtering through it. He wondered what was causing this reaction.

Surely it was something Gaster did. There was no way Gaster showed up out of the blue, Kidnapped his brother, stole a human soul, started distilling DT again and then the core just started acting funny all on its own.

He had to have done something but what?

"Found it!" Alphys said as she held up a handful of papers in her clawed hands.

As she franticly started shifting through the papers Sans walked up behind her to see what they needed to do.

All in all it seemed surprisingly simple. All They had to do was input the right code into the Core control panel. It would start the shutdown procedure.

"So how are we going to reboot this thing?" Undyne asked from his left.

"We need to input this code" a clawed finger pointed to a simple diagram "Then we just have to wait. Hopefully we get to it before it becomes fully corrupted."

"WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF WE DO NOT GET TO IT IN TIME?" Papyrus asked.

"Something weird is going on," Sans said letting Alphys get back to the papers. "and whatever 'it' is will eventually cause the core to ether implode or explode."

"HOW CLOSE ARE WE TO THAT HAPPENING?" Papyrus asked and Sans shifted on his feet not meeting their collective gaze.

"Well it could be five minutes could be an hour. We just don't know."

"What happens if it explodes?" Dogressa asked .

"Well if that happens we won't have to worried about freeing monster kind." He said look to see Dogaressa tail start to wag "Really?"

"Ya, we won't have to worry about it because there will be no more monster kind to free."

The tail wagging stopped and and everyone looked varying degrees of sick and horrified.

"Will it take out the whole Underground?" Undyne asked clearly shocked.

Sans just nodded "There might be a few monsters in the ruins that would make it but only if they were luc and happened to be far enough into the cave to make it."

"So core first, then we find the soul." Undyne said sounding resolute

Sans nodded again "Yup, If you want a soul to find we should probably take care of this little issue."

Alphys Looked up from her papers. " I think I k-know what to do." She suplyed folding up the paperwork so she could store it in her pocket for later reference.

"ABOUT TIME!" Papyrus snapped as he headed towards the door.

He was about to open the door when suddenly something changed and he was on the floor gesturing for the rest of them to follow suit.

The trained monsters were on the floor in seconds. The not trained monsters , Alphys and Sans, got the gist fairly quickly and joined everyone else.

Sans crawled over to his brother and Undyne did the same.

"What the fuck?" Sans whispered.

"What is it?"  Undyne whispered more civilly.

Papyrus was not dumb, he knew his voice was loud enough to give them away. So instead of speaking he gestured to wear his ear would be and put his finger up to his teath in the universal sign for shut the fuck up and listen.

When Undyne and Sans did they could hear faint scraping metal oises. Much softer than the groaning they had heard earlier from the core but just as soul stopping in its implication.

Someone was out there, moving machinery. There was only one monster in this whole building other than the people in the Core observation room.

Gaster was in the next room moving machinery around? Gaster was in the next room doing something that made noise. Gaster was in the next room and so was the core control panel.

The three of them moved away from the door and towards the window on the other side of the room.

"What do we do?" Papyrus asked in his quietest voice.

"We need a distraction..."    

"We can distract!" Dogressa said excitedly but still subdued,

"Yes!" Dogamy added "We are good at distractions!"

"I know you two are" Papyrus cut in "But could you hold your own in a fight against Gaster?"

The dogs both shook their heads tails going still. 02, 01 and Alphys joined the group.

"We could-" 02 started but was cut off by Undyne

"Don't give me that shit you two would be dust in no time."

"W-w-why do w-we  need a distraction?" Alphys asked.

"Someone needs to lead Gaster away so you can reset the core."

"G-g-gasters here?" Alphys stuttered out beginning to shake.

"Papyrus, Sans and I will lead him away so you can do your thing." Undyne said.

"Why me?" Sans asked angrily.

"Because I'll be damned if I let you sit here and do nothing! Asgore made me bring you along and I am going to make use of you." Undyne growled out.

"Fine" He grumbled out crossing him arms.

"Good, as I was saying. Papyrus, Sans and I will get Gaster to follow us so you can do your thing. The dogs, 01 and 02 will stay and keep watch. If Gaster comes back assume we are dead and get the fuck out of here."

There was another loud creak from behind them causing everyone to cringe and cover their ears.

"Not that it would do ya much good." Sans said when he could hear again.

"Oh my god Sans, shut the fuck up." Undyne whisper-yelled.

Sans made his eye-lights go out and tried to put in his most intimidating face but undyne just rolled her own eyes.

"Let's get a move on." She said facing Papyrus.

"Yes, please." He responded making a point not to look at his brother.

Undyne lead the way to the door and they all waited for a noise, any noise, to pinpoint Gasters location. The scratch of metal muffled by the door let them know that Gaster was somewhere to the left.

Without warning Undyne bolted from the room yelling at the top of her lungs.

"Seriously?" Sans asked as his brother followed suit.

"Seriously!?!?" Sans said a second time before he took off after them.

He decided that almost instantly that running was not working out.  Undyne and Papyrus just had much longer legs. So instead he started to teleport always making sure to stay just behind them.

It was mildly disorienting to travel this way but using his magic is small controlled bursts tended to save energy.

He was not going to fall behind. Especially with the now enraged yelling he heard from behind them. It wasn't even words anymore, just garbled static that could have been a voice at one point. 

Sans was brought out of his thoughts when he exited a jump only to see that the two royal guardsmen were nowhere to be seen. Sans looked around and found two startled monsters behind him.

"What?" He asked try to look nonchalant.

Papyrus just looked over to his captain and said "YOU KNOW WHAT? THAT EXPLAINS SO FUCKING MUCH."

That was the only thing the younger brother got out before the shrieking started up again very  close. Sans noticed that they had ended up in what appeared to be a large open space, with no exist and only one entrance. It must have been a storage room at some point but now that storage had been moved into the old offices. Now it might be used for meetings because there were some chairs and some folding tables along the far wall.

It looked like they were going for an all or nothing approach this time.

"When he gets here put up a bone baier at the door so he can't leave."

Papyrus gave his captain a look.

"I AM GLAD YOU HAVE SO MUCH CONFIDENCE IN MY ABILITIES. HOWEVER I DO NOT BELIEVE I CAN MAKE A BARRIER THAT WOULD HOLD HIM. hE WOULD JUST GET OUT THROUGH THE GAPS."

"We don't really have much of an option here Papyrus! "

"I got this." Sans cut in.

"I don't think-"  Undyne started but was cut off by Sans once again saying  " _ I got this _ ."

There was no more time to argue as a dark viscous shape appeared in the entryway to the room.

"Nowhere left to run..." The doctors said almost casually.

Sans waited for the distorted shape of the monster he once worked with to walk into the room, but instead he just hung back.

"I was hoping that we could work something out?" Gaster said his body moving around as if it was a black bag filled with water suspended in zero gravity.

"This is your last chance ass-hole. Tell us where the soul is or you're good as dead!" Undyne yelled at the monster in the doorway.

Of course that kind of tactic wasn't going to work. Gaster was too smart to get into a closed room fight with three other monsters. Even if he did think he could win. It was an unnecessary risk.

That didn't mean they couldn't bait him though.

The irrational way he had acted since he had gotten back made it obvious he could be made to do dumb things, very easily, if triggered.

All they had to do was figure out what that trigger was.

"Hey doc, don't you want your weapons back?"

The eye-lights of his mask like face moved towards the small skeleton who had spoken.  He tilted his head questioningly but didn't speak.

"Well you can't have them I got rid of them. Yup, all gone. Never seeing those suckers again."

Gaster chuckled "No, you wouldn't do that/"

Sans changed tactics.

"Well no duh you dumb shit."

That one seemed to get a reaction. Gaster seemed to have to physically hold himself back as his body tried to surge forward.

"That was quite rude." Gaster said sounding strained.

Catching on Undyne, the queen of smack talk, decided to join in.

"I think it was spot on you chicken shit motherfucker. How did a dumb fuck like you get the job anyways? I bet you did some special favors."  Then the captain of the royal guard did a gesture with her hand and mouth that made Papyrus look away and Sans laugh out loud.

The only noise to escape the former royal scientist was a low growl as he slowly entered the room. His eyes were glowing with purple light but before he could cast any magic and when he was clear of the door a loud explosion ripped through the space.

When the dust cleared the doorway leading to the rest of the building had been destroyed. A wall of dirt twisted metal and stones were all that  was left. Sans let his eye-lights flicker back into existence as smug tilt worked its way onto his perpetual smile.

A large and intimidating blaster was floating next to him.

"Your move fucker."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Undying chill.... seriously.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In space no one can hear you scream.Mwhahahhahah!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the clifhanger ahead of time. This one was getting long so i had to cut it off.^n^
> 
> Did you guys have a good holiday season? \\(^u^)/ (thank you guys for all the well wishes! It makes me soo happy to see stuff like that!)
> 
> Anyways here is a late Christmas present... a new years present? idk lol:P

There was silence as each side waited for the other to make the first move. A bright red energy danced across his brothers hands.A familiar twitch of his fingers hinted at a barely repressed energy. Undyne was in a similar state with her own powerful magic was flaring around her body ready to be used in the most lethal and destructive way possible.

****

Sans on the other hand knew how to keep a poker face. He could feel his volatile magic bubbling just below the surface of his calm lax exterior. Shoulders loose, body lax, don't let anyone know what you could do. That is how he had lived for years, how he had survived.

****

Gaster just stood stalk still as if waiting. The only sign he was even ready to fight was his ever present magic. He was waiting, the question was for what?

****

The question may never be answered though. The trigger could have been anything. A falling pebble from the rubble behind them, a wrong look, a stray breeze. All Sans knew was that one moment everything was calm the next a purple energy was filling the room at an alarming pace.

****

The strange magic covered the walls in a shimmering violet light. Leaving the monsters in the room completely unaffected. That was until a black speck appeared next to Gaster. Everything was thrown into chaos as a whistling whine was turned into a roaring hurricane force windstorm.

****

Undyne was the first to react jamming one of her spears into the ground, or rather trying to. The spear itself couldn't penetrate the simmering magic and just created sparks. Papyrus was having similar problems getting his bones to break the ground. If the look of rage on his face was anything to go by.

****

The winds were slowly dragging them into Gasterr’s waiting 'arms'.

****

So Sans did the only thing he sould think of and pinned them to the ground using his gravity magic. It wasn't perfect, the wind still tugged them away from the place they had been standing but it slowed them down enough. The force was slowly getting less and less powerful.

****

When it stopped Sans noticed he felt weird. Something was really off and he couldn't figure out what it was. Opening the eye-sockets he'd closed in the mayhem. Only to find Gaster was smiling smugly at him. Sans opened his mouth to ask what the fuck his problem was only to find he couldn't hear himself talking. Sans knew he was because he could feel it but no noise was making it into the room.

****

Sans wondered wildly if somehow the attack had caused him to go deaf.

****

The movement he caught out of the corner of his vision cleared things up quickly enough. Undyne was clawing at her throat in a desperate way as Papyrus tried to move and help her. Still pinned down by his brothers magic though he wasn’t making much progress. Worried it was his magic causing the problem Sans let it dissipate but his body still felt strangely stiff and heavy.

****

Papyrus made better progress and was trying to help his boss but seamed at a loss of what to do. Seeing the strange way Papyrus' scarf moved Sans realized, somehow Gaster had created a vacuum with no air. As skeletons him and his bro didn't need to breath. It was unclear what exactly Gaster was at this point but it seemed as if he didn't need air either. However Undyne had lungs, gills, all things used to gather oxygen. She needed air to function.

****

She was choking, slowly but surely she was losing the oxygen, vital to her body's function.

****

Summoning a blaster Sans took aim and let loose a beam of super condensed magical energy directly at Gaster. Like always the black sludge shifted out of the way, the attack hitting the barrier instead.

****

Where the other attacks had glanced off with no effect the super powered beam caused a massive spray of sparks. Tiny cracks spread outwards from the point of impact quickly getting larger and larger. Then with the sound of shattering glass and a supersonic jet crashing there was the feeling of getting hit by a truck.

****

Everything rushed back into focus as Sans realized he could hear again. Papyrus was shouting something but everything felt scrambled. The large sudden loss of magic combined with the impact disoriented him.

****

Opening his eye-sockets-

****

(when had he closed those?)

****

-Sans noticed he was laying against a wall.

****

(Shit his head hurt)

****

There was yelling-

****

(Why did Papyrus sound so far away?)

****

"Guy?" Sans said as he tried to raise himself off the floor.

****

The feel of something snaking around his vertebrae made him tense in panic.

****

Before he could get away something warm and soft with the texture of silly putty wrapped around his wrists, ankles and his torso Making him immobile, his hearing cleared enough to hear what was being said.

****

"LET HIM GO!" It was Papyrus and he sounded very angry.

****

"Now why would I do that?" A familiar voice said from next to Sans skull.

****

"FINE KEEP HIM THEN."

****

It was such a clear attempt at reverse psychology. If Sans wasn't being held hostage by a madman out for blood he might have laughed. Of course Gaster knew it too,

****

"Fine maybe I will."

****

He felt to apadages around his neck start to tighten causing Sans to cry out in pain as the bones made a harsh grinding noise.

****

He couldn't see his brother, the only thing he could see was the wall he was now pinned against. The outraged cry was plain to them all though.

****

"IF YOU DO NOT UNHAND SANS AT ONCE I WILL BE FORCED TO TAKE DRASTIC ACTION!"

****

"Unhand him? Is that all you want?"

****

There was a sharp prick on the back of his neck followed by an intense and all to familiar burning sensation.

****

* * * * *

****

Papyrus didn't trust Gaster as far as he could throw him.

****

When he had pinned Sans to the ground his heart had stopped.

****

He wasn't willing to leave Undyne's unconscious body unprotected but he also wanted to run over and punch Gasters smug grin.

****

Then Gaster had pulled out a syringe, it was full of red liquid.

****

Papyrus' soul had dropped at the doctor placed the syringe against Sans neck and depressed the plunger. It all happened so quickly Papyrus couldn't even react as Sans was flung towards him haphazardly.

****

His brother's limp body clattered to the floor.

****

A strange bubbling noise filled the space and Papyrus realized it was Gaster and he was laughing.

****

Sans was laying on the ground unmoving, when Sans had been tossed his head landed so Papyrus could see his face. His brothers eye-lights were blown wide, to the point there was almost no black left in his sockets. Other then that Sans seemed like he was out cold. If it wasn't for his wide unseeing eye-lights Papyrus might have thought Sans was close to dusting.

****

A groan from Undyne took his attention away from Sans and directed it towards the groggy looking Captain.

****

"Seriously..?" She croaked out "This shit is getting ridiculous."

****

"I think things are about to get a lot worse." Papyrus said in a dead flat tone.

****

Undyne lifted her head with only a slight wince and eyed the unmoving skeleton on the floor.

****

Gaster on the other hand was staring intently, as if waiting for something to happen.

****

* * * *

****

Everything had started to burn.

****

There was a tug, of familiar magic.

****

It was dark and invasive, he didn't want this. He had fought this off once he could do it again...

****

Couldn't he?

****

He was so tired though, he had been fighting for years. He had done what he had set out to do...

****

His brother.

****

His brother was strong

****

His brother would live on

****

Maybe he could rest... just for a moment...

****

There was a loud crack and a blooming pain in his head.

****

The intrusive mafic wormed its way further into his core.

****

At first he tried to resist but then there was another crack and more pain.

****

The magic felt wrong but it also had an underlying intent to sooth.

****

Like someone trying to sell something broken.

****

When a new unbearable pain laced its way along his spine he finally gave in.

****

Anything was better than this pain.

****

_ Just make it go away _ he thought as the once soothing magic turned invasive and took control.

****

* * * *

****

Oh god his brother was screaming.

****

Sans was screaming as popping and cracking noises filled the room.

****

Then a split appeared in his skull and small hands flew to the spot as if to hold his now fractured face together. The crack spread from his nasal cavity working its way up as the shape of the entire thing started to shift into something more animalistic.

****

The scream quickly became a roar as the Brother he once knew became more and more unfamiliar. A tail, an elongated skull, sharper more pronounced teeth. It was like something out of a fever dream.

****

Sans wrapped his quickly warping arms around his torso but as he did Sans whole body started to spasm and the gesture was lost in twitching flailing limbs.

****

"GASTER WHAT DID YOU DO!?!?" he yelled, voice filled with anger and fear.

****

The words were probably lost in the loud pain filled noises his brother were making.

****

Papyrus tried to go to Sans, to help somehow but two strong arms pulled him to the floor.

****

"Don't." Undyne said keeping her eyes on Sans who was now growing in size.

****

"I HAVE TO-"

****

"Not get yourself killed. We still have a job to do."

****

And as much as he hated himself for it Papyrus realized she was right. They all knew they might not make it out of this alive. Now he had to keep Gaster in this room until Alphys could do her thing, no matter what, or they would all be dust anyways. So Papyrus did a very un-papyrus thing and hid. Pressing his eye-sockets closed so he didn't have to watch as his brother was torn apart and put back together again.

****

The pops, cracks, and pained noises finally simmered down until all that could be heard was a low dangerous growl. The sound was like a large cat and one of the larger dog monsters mixed and mashed there vocal chords together. When he opened his sockets he saw a skeletal beast crouched where his brother had once stood.

****

It was eyeing him and Undyne with narrows eyes.

****

Another growl escaped its maw.

****

"SANS?" Papyrus found himself asking.

****

The beast only responded with another growl and a slight wiggle of its boney hips.

****

"That's right my pet." Gaster said with a sickly sweet voice as he appeared next to Sans and put a sickly melting appendage on the monster's snout. To papyrus absolute horror Sans nuzzled into it and seemed to calm down a bit.

****

"HE IS NOT YOUR PET!" Undyne tried to hold him down but he had struggled out of her hold.

****

"you are correct, he is  **_my weapon_ ** ."

****

"NO! HE IS MY LAZY GOOD FOR NOTHING BROTHER AND YOU WILL RETURN HIM!"

****

Something flickered in the beast's empty sockets but with a surge of purple light from the doctor's eyes it died.

****

"No, this is  **_my weapon_ ** you can't have it you **_asshole it’s mine, mine, mine, MINE!"_ **

****

"whoa calm down there you crazy prick." Undyne spat standing next to Papyrus.

****

"I am not crazy." Gaster said stroking the beast's head as it started to pur. Papyrus wanted to gag.

****

"But if you want your brother back so bad try and take him." Gaster turned to the beast "get them."

****

The beast that was once his brother lifted itself off the floor and took a threatening step forward. Papyrus hadn't realized how big Sans was now until he stood on all fours. Now Sans could look straight into Papyrus eyes, he might even be a couple of inches taller. The beast took a second step and Papyrus' gaze hardened.

****

"SANS STOP."

****

The beast paused for only a moment before it started forward again.

****

"SANS! I SWEAR TO THE GODS IF YOU DO NOT STOP THIS INSTANT I WILL THROW AWAY ALL OF YOUR MUSTARD!"

****

The beast's eye- lights flickered to life again for a moment before Gaster yelled. "Pet get them!"

****

The beast sat on its haunches as the eye-lights flickered.

****

* * * * *

****

The two voices were so loud.

****

One was so powerful, like bugs in his skull, making it hard to think.

****

The other was loud and when it yelled it sent a familiar jolt of fear through him. As if not listening to this voice would lead to pain.

****

The loud voice made his mind feel more clear though.

****

Like it was calling to a part of him he had forgotten.

****

The loud voice yelled again and he wanted to pull away but a large strong solid gloved hand fell on his maw. The red glove was so familiar, he knew that hand.

****

It was…

****

It was...!

****

"-YOU LAZY PIECE OF SHIT. IF YOU DO NOT OBEY ME I WILL HAVE TO SHOW YOU WHO IS BOSS!" Papyrus gave him a firm slap. If he had been smaller or less sturdy it might have left him seeing stars.

****

_ Wait _

****

_ Papyrus  _ had slapped him

****

_ His little brother _

****

Papyrus

****

In an instant his mind came back into focus.

****

The invasive magic that had wormed its way into his mind lost it's hold and retreated back into the dark recesses of his soul,  not gone but for them moment quiet.

****

Sans eye-lights met his brothers and whoo-boy did Papyrus look mad.

****

* * * * *

****

Sans let out a soft wine and lowered his head in a submissive posture.

****

His eye-lights were back and Sans was looking at him with trepidation.

****

"SANS?"

****

The beast gave several clicking sounds followed by another whine. Then as if realizing Papyrus couldn't understand him the beast gave a rather shaky nod.

****

"THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT." Papyrus said feeling relief flood his bones. That had been quite the longshot.

****

"Wow." Undyne said "Sans what the fuck? You look like a total bad-ass now!"

****

Sans raised himself off the ground at the weird complement and shook himself out. Papyrus could see he was a bit unsteady on four legs but all in all the way the beast was now sitting , in a somewhat loose manner that implied relaxation or even dare he say laziness? It made him think of the way his brother would sprawl out on the couch when he thought Papyrus wasn't looking. It was a very sans state.

****

his musing was interrupted by an angry doctor.

****

"no no no NO NO  **_NO NONONONONOOOO!"_ **

****

Papyrus had no idea why his brother was now a beast, or why he resembled the attack Sans had used earlier to break Gasters barrier. All he knew was that Gaster was mad. And that was something they could work with.

****  
  



End file.
